crawler crane Archives | Page 3 of 11

Unstable crane closes road

The boom of a lattice crawler crane threatened to come down today across a major road and power lines in Chesterfield Virginia.

The crane a Terex crawler owned by Corman Construction was working on a road project when the boom started to go over the back. Fortunately it didn’t and worked on the site used web slings to try and anchor the boom in order to prevent the crane losing stability and overturning. An All Terrain was then called in to try and help lower the boom.

The utility company cut the power lines, while the police closed the road. As far as we know the recovery is ongoing. We are not quite sure what caused the boom to get into this condition. Although early indications are either a recoil effect from an unplanned load release or overluffing.

Profit spike at Kobelco Cranes

Kobe Steel, parent of Kobelco Cranes, has published its third quarter results, showing a sharp rise in profits within the crane business.

Total crane sales for the nine months to the end December were ¥51.7 billion ($440.6 million), an increase of 29.8 percent on the same period last year. Operating profit for the nine months leapt 75 percent to ¥4.5 billion ($38.3 million) with the rising trend continuing during the third and into the fourth quarter.

The company said: “The strong sales are due to higher shipments of crawler cranes in Japan due to continued strong demand from higher public investments and other factors. In overseas markets, sales increased in Asia, where demand continued to be strong, and in other regions.”

Kobelco Cranes expects the trend to continue and confirmed its full year forecasts of revenues of ¥71.6 billion ($610 million) – almost 27 percent higher than the previous year, while operating profits will be in the region of ¥5 billion ($42.6 million), 75 percent up on 2013/14.

Winds overturn crane

A large crawler crane working on the new Timsah Arena Stadium, in Bursa Turkey came down over the weekend in strong storms, killing the driver of a passing car.

The crane boom, luffing jib and derrick mast went over the back of the machine and across the Bursa-İzmir highway, with the jib striking a passing taxi, killing its driver- Fatih Demirkıran. A woman passenger was seriously injured and is in a critical condition in hospital.

Four Manitowoc 2250s assemble overpass bridges

Four Manitowoc 2250 crawler cranes were featured prominently in the assembly of several new overpass bridges as part of a $61 million highway project in Wisconsin. The work also included the expansion of highway U.S. 41 traffic lanes, the reconstruction of several of its interchanges and the addition of 40 roundabouts. Dawes Rigging & Crane Rental of Milwaukee handled the lifting work.

“The 300-ton capacity cranes were just what we needed for the large pick weights associated with many of the lifts, especially the prefabricated tub girder structures that weighed up to 120 tons,” said Scott Jerome, senior branch manager, Dawes. “The Manitowoc crawler cranes exceeded our expectations and were the right crane choice for the project.”

The cranes’ 330-foot main booms were crucial to the lifts, raising loads above and across several traffic lanes and other road construction equipment to carefully position them on concrete support piers. The 2250s also endured shifting seasons to complete the project, ranging from heavy snow in February to excessive heat in July.

Sennebogen and Manitowoc launch crawlers

Crane manufacturers Sennebogen and Manitowoc have signed an agreement to produce a series of telescopic crawler cranes at the Straubing location in Lower Bavaria, Germany.

The agreement is for the production of telescopic crawler cranes for the North and South American market. The crawlers will be produced by Sennebogen and sold using the Manitowoc Grove brand name, a company spokesperson said.

The new models include the GHC55, GHC75, and GHC130 telescoping crawler cranes. The GHC series has a compact footprint, which provides excellent manoeuvrability on the job site, a spokesperson said.

Mike Herbert, global product director for rough-terrain cranes at Manitowoc, said, “The GHC series is for customers that need a compact, manoeuvrable crane that can face the rigors of merciless terrain. With minimal transport requirements, 100 per cent pick and carry ability and a telescoping boom, these cranes will prove very nimble in both getting to and navigating job sites.”

The GHC Series cranes are fully supported by Manitowoc Crane Care’s service network. A variety of attachments are available for the models, including an auger attachment and pole claw, ideal for companies working on power line projects.

The Grove GHC55 has a 55 US ton (50 tonne) capacity and 30.4 m main boom length. The total crane length with boom retracted is 10.7 m long and crane retracted width is 3.5 m. It has an overall height of 3.2 m.

The Grove GHC75 has a 77 ton (70 tonne) capacity and 36 m main boom length. The total crane length with boom retracted is 13 m and crane retracted width is 3.2 m. It has an overall height of 3.2 m.

The Grove GHC130 has a 132 tone (120 tonne) capacity and 40.2 m main boom length. The total crane length with boom retracted measures just 15.3 m long and crane retracted width is 3.9 m wide. It has an overall height of 4 m. All three cranes feature Tier 4 final compliant Cummins engines.

Manitowoc will offer services for maintenance, service, spare parts, and financing. The equivalent products from the Sennebogen product range (the Sennebogen 653, 673, and 6113) will not be offered in these sales regions.

The contract was signed in November 2014, with production beginning in 2015.

Bridge replacement for Wagenborg

Heavy lift and transport service provider Wagenborg Nedlift from the Netherlands helped replace and old railway bridge on Von Walthausen Strasse in Bochum, Germany, using a Liebherr LR 1750.

The 750 tonne capacity lattice boom crawler was brought to site on more than 40 trailers. It was then erected in the narrow city streets and fitted with 260 tonnes of superlift counterweight. The crawler was used to remove the old bridge and replace it with a new one, which weighed 340 tonnes.

During the removal of the old bridge a second, 400 tonne capacity, mobile crane was set up and used to install a temporary bridge weighing 54 tonnes onto the foundation.

The job was completed before the deadline, a company spokesperson said. At the time of writing in mid-January the project was due for completion within weeks.