Features Archive

Reaching from Japan to Europe
26 September 2016 At this year’s Bauma, Tadano announced a flurry of interest in its unique hydraulic telescoping luffing jib, which had until now largely sold only to local Japanese users.

Getting off the ground
26 September 2016 Terex and Manitowoc have recently upgraded their five axle all terrain lines, while Liebherr and Tadano each have their own very different approach to eight axle cranes. In the US, Link-Belt is seeing a good response to its line of locally-built cranes. Paola De Pascali reports

Travelling light
26 September 2016 Böcker saw its sales rise in the UK over the past three years. Sotiris Kanaris talks to their UK dealer and customers about the appeal of this equipment.

Put your goggles on
26 September 2016 As the use of virtual reality technology is growing beyond entertainment, the crane industry is looking into ways to embrace it. Sotiris Kanaris reports.

Rigging in Washington
26 September 2016 The SC&RA’s annual crane and rigging workshop will take place at National Harbour, a short drive from Washington DC, this September 21-23

Saar star
26 September 2016 Steil has used four cranes, including two locally-built Terex all terrains, to erect the SaarPolygon, intended as a monument to the industrial region’s miners, and as a landmark for visitors.

Challenge accepted
22 August 2016 Bernadette Ballantyne talks to Liebherr’s Christoph Eiwan about some of the challenges posed to tower crane standards bodies and manufacturers by a move to cycle-based classification.

Closing the loop
22 August 2016 Harmonization of design standards is not an easy task but it is an important one. A huge number of committees consisting of the world’s leading crane and machinery experts are currently working on updating standards to ensure that cranes are operating as effectively and safely as possible.

As time goes by
22 August 2016 As design standards increasingly adopt cycle-based classification, Bernadette Ballantyne talks to Professor Markus Golder who explains how to move between this and the previous time-based approach. Over the following pages, Eberhard Becker of Terex traces the adoption of cycle-based classification across the lifting industry, and Liebherr’s Christoph Eiwan talks about some of the challenges posed to tower crane standards bodies and manufacturers by a move to cycle-based classification.

Dutch cranage
22 August 2016 Paola De Pascali attended the M. Verschoor 50th anniversary event and spoke with the founder Marteen Verschoor about the crane hire company’s history and growth.

Western Europe projects round up
22 August 2016 This month we review projects from Germany, Austria, France and Spain.

A market in stand-by
22 August 2016 Paola De Pascali visited Vertikal Days, shortly before the Brexit vote, and found many crane manufacturers and dealers expressing their concerns over the uncertainty the referendum had caused. Even after the vote, many investors are taking a “wait-and-see approach” and putting big projects on hold.

Cranes on the beach
22 August 2016 This year’s CICA conference takes place in Cairns on 15-17 September

Raising the mast
22 August 2016 Over the past year, Rapid Response Solutions (RRS) oversaw the lifting and rigging of Magma Structures composite masts for a yacht in Portsmouth, UK.

Lighter than air
28 July 2016 Airships are set to return to our skies with projects planned across the world. Rhian Owen investigates why there is a new-found attraction of airships such as the Airlander in the UK, and how remote construction projects could benefit.

Low oil pressure
28 July 2016 Persisting low oil prices have kept the rough terrain crane market soft in 2015 but competition in the larger machine space is rising with demand for these machines remaining strongest, Bernadette Ballantyne reports

Enercon uses Liebherr tower crane for 149m wind turbine
28 July 2016 Enercon used a Liebherr 1000 EC-B 125 Litronic tower crane to erect a 149m wind turbine at an altitude of around 800m in the Prechtaler Schanze wind farm in the Black Forest.

New jib for Chernobyl crawler
21 June 2016 A Manitowoc 2250 crane has been fitted with a new luffing jib to complete containment shelter work at the disused Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

Watching the weather
21 June 2016 Crawler manufacturers and best practice guides recommend the use of well-placed anemometers as one element in keeping crawlers safe from high winds. Here, we round up some of the equipment on offer.

Réunion road rolls ahead
21 June 2016 A €1.7bn project to link St Denis, the capital of the French Indian Ocean department of Réunion, with the island’s port near La Possession, is getting well underway.

Western Europe projects round up
21 June 2016 This month we review projects from Manchester, Netherlands, Poland, Italy.