All terrain removes 104t tower crane foundation
9 March 2021German crane and heavy haulage specialist Autokrane Schares provided a Liebherr LTM 1500-8.1 for the removal of a 104t tower crane concrete foundation, which remained under the floor slab of a department store in Herne for over 30 years.
The square concrete foundation, with side length of 5.5m and a depth of 1.4m, was positioned for the erection of an enormous top-slewing crane which was used for the department store’s construction in the late 1980s.
It was discovered during the recent demolition of the building. The usual procedure would have been for the demolition contractor to crush the foundation in situ using hydraulic hammers; but its position immediately above an underground railway tunnel, meant that an alternative method had to be used. The foundation needed to be lifted in one piece and placed in an open space where it could be safely crushed.
Schares, based in Bocholt, chose its 500t Liebherr LTM 1500-8.1 for the job. The crane was ballasted with 105t of counterweight at the site. The telescopic boom was extended to a length of 31.7m to hoist the foundation out using a radius of 13m and deposit it in an open space, where the demolition machines could finish the job.
