The power of invention

One of the most exciting to me is Mammoet's announcement that it will be working with its former designer Piet Stoof to build a new crane able to lift as much as 24,000t.

I interviewed Stoof about his plans for this crane back in the autumn of 2013. The device announced by Mammoet looks to use many of the same concepts Stoof was working on then. It will be interesting to see how this project develops.

Mammoet, and Stoof, are both based in the Netherlands. It's a country with a long tradition of innovation in lifting and transport.

Another example of this is Enerpac Integrated Solutions. Paola De Pascali visited them earlier this year, and learnt about the wide range of equipment they offer, all based around powerful hydraulics and clever control systems.

We've covered one of the company's biggest recent innovations, the barge-mounted overhead travelling crane it has built for a motorway project in Reunion in a number of recent stories.

The company's inventiveness doesn't end there though. It has recently developed a new synchronous hoisting system, with built-in power for each of its hydraulic cylinders. The company's new JS series jack up system consists of towers that can be raised by inserting steel boxes onto their base, with a maximum lifting capacity per leg of up to 750t.

On a smaller scale than either Enerpac or Mammoet's recent innovations is Elebia's automatic hook. While not as immediately striking as the Dutch companies' giant lifting devices, Elebia's automatic hook is a significant innovation.

The idea for the automated hook came to founder Oscar Fillol Vidal when he was considering the cranes owned by his family business's construction firm. While they had modern control systems that allowed for easy one-man operation, they still needed the crane operator to step away from the controls or with a helper to attach the load to the hook.

We've had our own little piece of innovation this week. Recently, the server we had used to register requests for the magazine failed spectacularly.

While this was no doubt annoying for readers who wanted to update their registration, it provided an opportunity for is to refresh the registration process. The registration page at www.cranestodaymagazine.com/register is designed to be much easier to use than its predecessor. We ask less questions of potential readers: just enough to show they are eligible to receive the magazine for free.

I'd encourage you to take a couple of minutes to request a registration, if you don't already receive the magazine regularly.

Will North Editor
wnorth@cranestodaymagazine.com