Zoomlion had held a delivery ceremony for a new 160t topless tower crane, the T3000. The company claims (backed up by a Guinness World Records authenticator) that, with a load moment of 31,200kNm, this is the world’s largest topless crane. It will target power generation, as well as arenas, bridges, high rises and other major projects.
The delivery ceremony was held at Zoomlion’s plant in Change on July 26, and was attended by more than 200 guests. Yu Lekang, deputy general manager of Zoomlion’s crane division said that the new crane would change the way supercritical steam generators are erected at power plants, improving construction efficiency and cutting costs.
Huang Qun, general manager of Zoomlion’s crane division, explained that the company had started its development of topless tower cranes with the acquisition of technology from Jost. With cranes like the T3000, the Chinese company had built on this technology with its own research and innovation.
The first of the cranes will be sold to Jiangsu Jiang’an Group’s Electric Power Construction Company, in a deal announced this spring. Zoomlion says that under the Chinese government’s current five year plan, to 2015, total annual electricity consumption is expected to grow by 8.8%. Over the following five years, consumption is expected to grow by 5.6%.
To meet this demand, companies like Jiangsu Jiang’an Group will be building a series of 1,000,000kW thermal power plants.
Zoomlion says that these large thermal power plants require a main tower crane with a large lifting torque, large lifting capacity, wide boom coverage, narrow lifting hook unit, narrow crane body, small base, precise placement, high work efficiency, and reliable safety record, as well as one that is convenient to assemble and disassemble.