Ale and Aertssen will oversee largest lift Antwerp

More details have been revealed on the heavy lift project being undertaken at Total’s Antwerp petrochemical complex by ALE and Aertssen.
First announced in mid-November, the project will be undertaken by ALE and Belgian company Aertssen, the first job to be performed by the joint venture.

A load of 1,050t, measuring 24m long, 11m wide and 23m high, will be transported 5km along Scheldelaan, from a quay to the refinery. Set for delivery on December 2, it will represent the largest-ever cargo to pass through the Port of Antwerp.

The job is one part of a six-month project which ALE and Aertssen began in October for Total. The joint venture has been transporting modules using 80 axle lines of SPMTs, and installing the modules using telescopic and crawler cranes.

XCMG claims new lifting record XGC88000 crawler crane

Chinese crane manufacturer XCMG says that it has successfully lifted a 4,500 tonne test load with its 88,000 tonne/metre XGC88000 crawler crane.

The crane, which can also be configured as a 2,000 tonne class crane is similar in concept to the Terex CC8800 Twin and has previously lifted 2,500 tonnes with a 96 metre main boom. The company now claims to have set a new world record with the 4,500 tonne load lifted on a 60 metre main boom at which the load moment was 79,800 tonne/metres making the radius roughly 17.5 metres.

The construction wing of Sinopec which worked with XCMG to develop the crane and has ordered the first unit to work on new petrochemical construction activities.