Flagship

The new Demag CC 8800, described as a new generation in heavy lifting, was shown in iron for the first time on 9 November. Hundreds of Demag customers and distributors from around the world attended the Heavy Lift Summit event, held at the company's Bierbach site in Germany. Few could fail to be impressed by the sheer presence of the vast machine that dwarfed the other Demag crawler cranes that were also on show.

The CC 8800, flagship of the current Demag range and second only to the 1997 CC 12600 owned by Mammoet, is the world's most powerful lattice boom crawler crane with transport components no wider than 3.5m, Demag claims. Five units have already been sold, the first of which was the one handed over at the event to Marino Crane of the USA. The other orders already on the books include another unit for Marino and one each for GH Heavy Lift in Saudi Arabia, Sterling Crane in Canada, and Al Jaber in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

The technology A primary feature of the CC 8800's design, to keep operating costs down, is to enable rapid assembly and disassembly. Complete set up time is claimed to be two days. For easy transport components are optimised in terms of their size and weight to the point that no individual piece weighs more than 40t and none are wider than 3.5m. All drive components including the two engines, hydraulics and electrics are in a single container, the power and control module, at the back of the operating cabin. This module is transported as one package.

Fast erection is further facilitated by the identical crawler side frames that can be mounted on either the left or the right hand side (as on Manitowoc's 999), without an assist crane. A new hydraulic tensioning system is used to fit the crawler tracks.

Quick-connect fittings are used to attach components such as the winch drums, cylinders and hydraulic motors in the carrier and superstructure to the power and control module. Carbody, cross axles and side frames are pin-connected hydraulically.

Counterweight sections are the same across the current range of Demag lattice-boom cranes which offers logistical benefits. Superstructure counterweight is 280t including the 100t central ballast. Maximum superlift carrier counterweight is 640t. Superlift radius can be altered hydraulically using a telescopic system and the superlift carrier's steering is automatically combined with the slewing of the crane.

To save space during erection the boom can be assembled in the air with the SL mast. The SSL/LSL (stepped main boom) combination allows lengths of up to 150m and working radii between 9m and 154m. At a 30m radius in this configuration the CC 8800 lifts 245t. Main boom and jib have the same system dimensions so there is no need for a reducer and a third head which means fewer components. Boom combinations available are SSL, SSL/LSL, SWSL (SFSL) (main boom plus luffer) and SFVL. In this last configuration VL means vessel lifter which allows the erection of 100m columns weighing up to 400t. SFVL is the SSL main boom, to a maximum length of 108m, topped with an adaptor head, a 10m jib butt and 2m boom head.

The CC 8800 is controlled with Demag's touchscreen IC-1 system from the operator's workstation, the front part of the power and control module, equipped with air-conditioning and large enough to have a refrigerator, table and cupboard plus further stowage space. The IC-1 was first seen on the AC 60 mobile crane at Bauma and is a feature of all new Demag cranes. For a better operating position during certain lifts the seat, consoles, instruments and controls can be tilted backwards inside the cabin. Cameras monitor the rope drums and the counterweight carriage.