Potain helps Lyon reach new heights

At 200m high, the Tour Incity will be the tallest building in Lyon when completed, and will comprise 44,000 sq m of offices as well as four restaurants.

The project's main contractor Bouygues erected two of its Potain tower cranes at the site: a 16t MD 550 top-slewing crane using 60m of its 80m jib, and a 12t MDT 222 topless crane using 30m of its 65m jib.

The cranes are operating for 14 hours a day, building one floor a week over 30 months and climbing 15m a month, to final working heights of 280m.

The schedule has been imposed due to the inner-city location, with a busy road, school and shopping mall all adjacent to the site.

The demands of the location also led to Bouygues climbing the MDT 222 internally, using a floor climbing system involving a frame attached the building's concrete core. The MD 550 is installed with Potain's external anchorage system, with frames fixing the mast to the outside of the building.

Julian Bargues, job site manager at Bouygues, said: "Working in such a tight space means we need very precise load control and smooth movement, two things we know Potain cranes are ideal for."