Austrian container handling crane manufacturer Künz commissioned German crane rental, sales and service specialist BKL Baukran Logistik to help install a large gantry crane weighing a total of 360 tonnes.
The container gantry crane was being installed at a container terminal in the west of Frankfurt owned by Contargo Industriepark Frankfurt-Höchstcas part of the terminal’s expansion.
For the project BKL used five telescopic cranes of different classes: a 230-tonne LTM 1230-5.1 mobile crane; a 250-tonne GMK5250XL-1 all-terrain crane; a 300-tonne LTM 1300-6.2; and two 450-tonne all-terrain cranes – one LTM 1450-8.1 and one GMK6450-1.
A key challenge was that the busy container terminal had to keep on operating whilst the gantry crane was being installed. Because of this BKL’s Frankfurt division used CAD planning to ensure that the cranes would not disrupt road or rail operations at the terminal.
Due to the gantry crane’s installation location on a quay next to a river, BKL had to take the stability of the quay wall into account to ensure its structural integrity. This meant that the mobile cranes had to be positioned in such a way that their load distribution plates were placed on a few selected points.
Space limitations also meant that the setup and activity of the five mobile cranes had to be carefully planned.
When it came to the lifting three cranes first lifted the 140-tonne main girder at its three anchor points to a height of 40 metres.
The cranes involved in this were the LTM 1450-8.1 with luffing jib on one side, paired with a GMK6450-1 and an LTM 1230-5.1 on the other side.
At the same time the LTM 1300-6.2 and GMK5250XL-1 placed the 17-tonne supports for the gantry crane in the designated position on the water side.
The LTM 1300-6.2 stood directly behind the LTM 1450-8.1 during the lift, manoeuvring the support into its final position by reaching past the 450-tonne mobile crane.
To position the two supports on the shore side, the BKL team then moved the 250-tonne and 300-tonne cranes within the installation area.
Thanks to the advance planning and close coordination between the BKL team on the jobsite, the operation went smoothly and Künz was then able to finish the gantry crane installation on schedule.
