Linden Comansa used for hydroelectric plant construction
5 December 2017 by Sotiris KanarisThree Linden Comansa tower cranes are being used to build the Ituango hydroelectric power plant, located in the canyon of the Cauca River in Colombia.
The CCC Ituango Consortium, made up of the Colombian construction companies Conconcreto and Coninsa Ramón H, as well as the Brazilian construction company Camargo Corrêa, are carrying out the main civil works on this project for Colombia’s utility company Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM). The project involves the construction of a 70km-long reservoir.
There are currently three Linden Comansa tower cranes installed on one side of the dam being built. The dam is designed to reach a height of 225m. The three cranes were sold to the CCC Ituango Consortium and were initially assembled at the construction site by Gigacon, Linden Comansa’s official distributor in Colombia.
A 20t 21LC450 and an 8t 16LC185, are being used to build a controlled spillway with a design flow of 22,600m3/second. Both these cranes have been set up to reach a height of 60m and have been assembled on a folding cross base with travelling system so they can be moved on tracks installed on the ground.
“They are able to cover a greater area of the construction site much more quickly than if they had to be dismantled and assembled each time they are moved, thus meaning savings in terms of time and costs,” said Linden Comansa.
The third Linden Comansa crane on site is an 8t 11LC160, which has been erected in three different locations, always very close to the other two cranes. It was initially installed in an area higher than the spillway in order to be used to help build the tunnel that will provide road access to the spillway.
Once this work was completed, it was moved to a slightly lower area to be used to help build the two intake tunnels, which will take water from the reservoir to the machine room and turbines. At all these locations, the 11LC160 was set up with a height under hook of 40m and, like the other two cranes, on a folding base with travelling system.
Once the plant starts operating at the end of 2018, it will generate up to 2400MW of clean energy, nearly twice that of the San Carlos power plant, currently the country’s largest with a generating capacity of 1240MW.
