Eisele replaces chiller units on iconic tower

German crane and heavy haulage contractor Eisele AG used a Liebherr LTM 1650-8.1 eight-axle mobile crane to replace the chiller units on an iconic tower block in Frankfurt, Germany. The tower, known as Kastor, is one of two; the other is called Pollux. The twin towers are named after a pair of inseparable brothers from Greek mythology and are an iconic sight on the Frankfurt skyline.

All the work had to be completed over one weekend. This involved the closure of one of the main roads in Frankfurt as it was the only place where the LTM 1650-8.1 could be set up for the lifts.

As such a tight schedule was specified in order to minimise traffic disruption.

The work started on a Friday afternoon with the assembly of special support plates and the access ramp for the LTM 1650-8.1 whilst a partial road closure was put into effect. To ensure exact positioning of the support plates, a surveyor marked the dimensions of the LTM 1650-8.1's supports on the pavement and the road on the basis of the approved structural installation plan.

At 11pm on the Friday evening work began on erecting the LTM 1650-8.1 in a T3YV2EN configuration with 150 tonnes of ballast and a 77-metre-long luffing jib.

Due to the presence of an underground railway line under the crane site, the support pressure was limited to two tonnes per square metre. The chosen solution was a combination of steel plates and Bongossi timbers; around 100 load distribution plates were placed under the crane and the outriggers.

The lifting work began at 8am on Saturday morning – the telescopic boom was extended to 51 metres. With a lattice extension and luffing jib the LTM 1650-8.1 reached the required lifting height of 120 metres to remove the old chillers from the 95-metre-high Kastor tower and installed the new units. The purpose of the lifting work was to modernise the air conditioning system in the high-rise building, which was completed in 1997. The heaviest components weighed five tonnes. During the assembly work, the LTM 1650-8.1 had to cope with a radius of up to 62 metres.

All the work had to be completed on Sunday and the crane had to be dismantled immediately to ensure that traffic could flow again on Monday morning. Liebherr says that everything went to plan.