Liebherr crawlers serve tennis project
22 September 2015 by Daniel SearleCrane company Buckner has used three Liebherr crawler cranes to build a roof structure over the world’s largest tennis stadium in New York.
The Arthur Ashe stadium, the venue for the US Open tennis tournament, is being fitted with a retractable roof to protect the court from rain.
During the 10-month project, Buckner HeavyLift Cranes used a Liebherr LR 11000 and two LR 1600/2 crawler cranes to erect the steel structure for the roof.
In addition, two Liebherr LR 1200 cranes and an LTM 1220-5.2 from crane hire company Bay Crane Service were used as auxiliary cranes.
The building work was paused in September so the annual US Open tournament could take place, with the retractable roof set to be completed in 2017. One of the LR 1600/2 cranes will start work again at the site for around four months from October 2015.
Kevin C Long, project manager at Buckner HeavyLift Cranes, said: "The site was logistically challenging. A great deal of planning was required just for the assembly and disassembly of the cranes. Liebherr LR 11000 and LR 1600/2 crawler cranes feature an efficient erection process and short set-up times. That, of course, helps to keep costs down."
