Link-Belt crawler builds parking garage

The lattice crawler crane was chosen for the lifting and placing of 850 pieces of concrete double-tees, tilt wall panels, columns and architectural forms. The 348 Series 2 lifts 60ft (18m) long, pre-stressed concrete double-tee beams weighing up to 60,000lbs. (27.2t) from four pick points with two 20ft long cables attached to the main block, connected with ten-ton capacity ring clutches.

“I use the fine metering knob pretty much all the time. When I’m bringing the double-tees off the trailer, I’m booming up while I’m cabling up. I’ll have the knob tuned down to a slow motion as it’s centered. When I’m over the center of the load, I know I can start hoisting it up,” said operator Scotty Adams.

“By centering I mean, as I’m hoisting up, the boom deflection is going to come down, so I’m watching that second block up there and when I get it back up with the number one block. I’m still in the slow metering mode and the double-tee lifts straight up.”

The heaviest lifts for the job are concrete coping eyebrow sections that weigh 64,200lbs rigged. Those sections are hoisted at a 68ft radius at a 72° boom angle.

“Erection for the structure has been determined to be 18 different lifts or sequences. We are building from the east end, and going west,” explained superintendent for Davis Erecting, Tom Johnson.

Davis Erecting has a long history with Link-Belt Cranes, particularly their 300USt lattice crawler cranes. Its newest 348 Series 2 makes the fifth such unit to add to their fleet, which covers a territory covering much of the southeastern United States.