Lifting at the Ritz

The hotel is set to become the centerpiece of the city’s waterside precinct. But space is at a premium on the Elizabeth Quay site, where the AUD500m hotel sits just 30m from the waterfront. After assessing the requirements to make the series of lifts, contractors called for a crane with the reach to access the hotel roof; the capacity to manage the lifts; and the compact dimensions to fit the restricted space. Which is where the six-axle GMK6400 came in.

“Space was extremely limited on the Ritz-Carlton construction site. We needed a compact crane that was easy to set up with the capacity and reach to handle lifts over 100m in the air,” explained Aaron Holding, general manager at WA Universal Rigging & Cranes. “Smaller 300t cranes were too small to handle the lifts and larger cranes were too big for the space available.”

The GMK6400’s main boom is 60m and it also features an optional self-rigging Mega Wing Lift attachment for additional capacity when needed. For the Ritz-Carlton project, WA Universal Rigging & Cranes configured the crane with 54.6m of main boom and 55m luffing fly jib, along with 75t of counterweight. The GMK6400 worked for 9.5 hours on multiple lifts, including the removal of a 3.5t mini crawler crane at a radius of 42m and a height of 90m. Among the assist cranes used by WA Universal Rigging & Cranes was one of its 95t capacity GMK5095 units.

“It took us 5.5 hours to set up the GMK6400 and in some instances clearance from the building was as low as 10mm,” Holding said. “Even though there were extreme space challenges, where we had to avoid the Ritz Carlton’s existing landscaping and façade, setting up the GMK6400 was relatively easy and smooth.”

Scheduled for completion in mid-2019, the six-star Ritz Carlton hotel will occupy a 28-storey tower and feature 205 rooms along with a selection of residential apartments.