Technology

Welti-Furrer Pneukran & Spezialtransporte has erected a 2.3 megawatt Enercon E-70 wind turbine at an altitude of 2,465 metres, near the border between Switzerland and Italy. The work was completed on behalf of German company Enercon.

A new double boom system to increase the lifting capacity of lattice boom cranes has been launched by Liebherr in Germany. Capacity can be increased by more than 50% “with relatively little effort,” the manufacturer said.

JPW Riggers, Inc. Syracuse, N.Y., recently acquired a Terex AC 500-2 all-terrain crane to assist with its wind turbine work at the Maple Ridge Wind Farm in Lowville, N.Y. The AC 500-2 served as an alternative to the lattice boom crawler cranes JPW typically uses for wind turbine construction and servicing.

Manitex is introducing a sleek, new cab for its boom truck line this week at ICUEE, October 4-6 in Louisville, Kentucky. The cab features curved glass for better visibility, a 0 to 20-degree cab tilt, a mini-van style automotive door and sliding windows on both sides of the cab.

ASC Lift Machinery’s 200-tonne capacity railway crane is used principally for emergency response to train derailments at present, however, it can also be used for infrastructure construction projects such as bridge work. This system was jointly designed by US-based ASC Lift Machinery and partners with engineering by Germany-based Zweiweg International.

Liebherr has extended the on-site fully rigged mobility of its 600 tonne LR 1600/2-W narrow-track crawler crane. The crane can now move with up to 108 metres of main boom and a 12-metre fixed jib.

The new transmission tower, built on the commercial dock owned by Superior Aggregates in Michipicoten Harbour, has been given a three-kilometer lift into Dore Lake, where high winds recently toppled the former tower, vital for power from Ontario to Manitoba. A skycrane helicopter, used to replace cranes in hard-to-reach areas, was flown in from the West Coast. It has a capacity to lift 20,000 pounds.

The Liebherr LR 1600/2 crawler crane operated by US crane rental company Bigge Crane and Rigging Co. has been hard at work on a wind farm in Ohio. With a main boom 108 metres in length and a fixed jib of 12 metres (the SL3F system), the crane recently lifted a Games G90 machine housing weighing 75 tonnes onto the top of a 100 metre tower.

Self-erecting cranes are helping build an apartment complex in downtown Indianapolis, Ind. The contractor, Larry R Wagler Construction, chose the cranes for their easy assembly and ability to operate in limited space. Larry Wagler, owner of the company, has used self-erecting cranes since 2006 and finds Potain self-erecting cranes indispensible for the type of framing work his company does, which is primarily building commercial properties in crowded urban areas.

Two Terex® CC 2800-1 lattice boom crawler cranes worked in tandem to help erect the steel frame for the maintenance hangar at the Berlin-Brandenburg International (BBI) airport construction site.