Big plans, big projects

The Shanghai Tower rises 632m into the sky above the mega city of Shanghai, in the district of Pudong . This skyscraper is the highest building in the entire countr y and, after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, it is the second-highest in the wor ld.

This prestige project has an investment value of CNY14.8bn, equivalent to €1.8bn. Although the tower reached its ultimate height in August last year, final completion and the official opening is not expected until 2015.

The real boom in the Chinese cities, however, is not measured on the ver tical but on the horizontal scale. According to the German consultancy Far Eastern Consulting, every two days in China plans are dra wn up for new residential and industrial districts the size of the Italian capital, Rome. The government-supported process of urbanization is seen in the People's Republic as an important engine in the building sector and the econom y as a whole.

Urbanization and industrialization consume great quantities of energ y. Following coal, water is the second most important source of energ y for generating electricity. Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI), Germany's economic development agency, reports that installed capacity for hydroelectric power in China grew last year b y over 12 percent to a total of 280GW . Almost CNY125bn (around €15bn) was invested in expanding the country's hydroelectric power capacity in 2013. Increasingly important, alongside the mega power stations on China's rivers, are pumped-storage power stations, says the German Chamber of Commerce. One such -- the biggest of its kind in the wor ld -- is currently being constructed in the pro vince of Hebei, in the nor th of China. It will have a total installed capacity of 3.6GW. Fur ther growth in China will depend e ver more on progress in expanding the infrastructure. In this field, too, projects of enormous dimensions are under way: for example, this year at least another 6,000km of brand new rail routes will be added to the 100,000km or more of rail track that already crisscrosses the countr y. The estimated costs for this expansion are CNY630bn. The aim of the Chinese go vernment is to expand the rail networ k to a total of 120,000 kilometer s by the year 2020.

All these are projects with tremendous potential and all of them involve the implementation of the latest technolog y. For exhibitors at Bauma China, this is good news indeed.

Liebherr to show LTM 1300-6.2

Along with other equipment from its extensive range, Liebherr will show its LTM 1300-6.2 all terrain, launched at Bauma in 2013. The 300t mobile crane on a six-axle chassis is powered by a single engine with a mechanical shaft.

With this innovative concept for the superstructure drive unit there is no need for a second engine, as normally used on cranes in this class. Its 78m telescopic boom means that the LTM 1300-6.2 offers an additional 6m in length over its predecessor, the LTM 1250-6.1. In addition its load capacity has been increased dramatically. The new LTM 1300- 6.2 from Liebherr is, the company claims, the most powerful 300-tonner available on the mobile crane market.

Manitowoc satisfies need for speed

Manitowoc will use bauma China 2014 to launch two new topless tower cranes from its Potain brand and a rough-terrain crane from its Grove range.

Leong Kwong-Joon, Manitowoc regional product manager for tower cranes, said growing time pressures on job sites in China and across Asia meant the introduction of the Potain MCT 205 and the smaller MCT 85 would attract attention of tower crane users at the show.

He said: "Because topless tower cranes have no cathead at the top, it's easier to overlap them and overall crane working heights don't need to be so high."

The Potain MCT 205 has a 10t capacity and can lift 1.75t at its maximum 65m jib end. The complete upper works can be assembled in four lifts, with the heaviest group of components weighing just 7.9t and the full 65m jib placed in a single lift.

The 5t MCT 85 can lift 1.1t at its 52m jib end. The counter jib and tower head are fitted as a single component, while jib connection is via easy pin-connectors.

The entire crane's upper works are connected in just two sections.

Meanwhile, the 80t Grove RT890E rough-terrain crane will also be on display, featuring a 43.2m main boom (72.5m with jib extensions), Vision cab and 205kW Cummins engine.

New Comansa tower crane to launch

Linden Comansa's Chinese subsidiary Comansa Jie will launch a new tower crane at this year's bauma China.

Full details of the new model will be released during the show, but the company has confirmed visitors will be able to see the crane erected on a 4.5m foldingcross base.

A slewing part, with the hoisting and slewing winches, will also be exhibited on ground level for people to examine the details and allowing demonstrations with remote control.

Andy Huang, Comansa Jie's general manger said: "The new model will improve our range and will allow us to have a better share in large markets like China or India."

During the last bauma China in 2012, the company received $8m worth of orders. "We hope that the new crane will help us to achieve a similar success in the 2014 show."

Comansa Jie will also use the show to tell the industr y about the expansion of its Hangzhou factory to 38,000 sq m. The expansion will allow the company to grow output and offer a wider range of tower cranes with higher capacities.