Morrow Equipment has rented four Liebherr tower cranes to contractor Constructora Norberto Odebrecht SA to help build the Orinoco Bridge in eastern Venezuela, South America.

The $480m cable-stay bridge is 3.2km long (2 miles) and has rail and road lanes.

It has supplied two 550 HC 20s and two 550 HC 40s to the project. Each crane’s final maximum hook height was 426ft (130m) above the river. Jib length was 131ft (40m). All four are tied to bridge towers. The cranes are due to be dismantled later this year.

Morrow has also supplied two Liebherr 420 EC-H 16 hammerhead tower cranes for the Cooper River replacement bridge near Charleston, South Carolina, USA. The $531m cable-stay bridge is 4km long (2.5mi) and holds eight lanes of traffic. The bridge is expected to be completed in April 2006.

Morrow has rented the cranes to Palmetto Bridge Constructors, a joint venture of Tidewater/Skanska and the Civil Division of Flatiron Construction Company.

The cranes have a final hook height of 599ft (183m) and jib length of 180ft (55m). Both are tied to the bridge towers and are due to come down later this year.

Potain Igo debuts in South Africa

The latest and largest model in Potain’s Igo range of self-erectors, the Igo 50, is working on site in Germany. It is helping to build a hospital laboratory in the Hemer region of Sauerland. Contractor Verfuss is using the Igo 50, the first to be delivered in Germany, for lifting all materials and equipment. ‘The 40m reach and maximum capacity of 4t, together with its frequency-controlled drive system are especially useful features,’ said managing director Georg Verfuss. Jib-end capacity is 1.1t.

The Igo range, which now comprises eight models from 1.8t to 4t maximum rated capacity, is based on the principle of hydraulic self-erection. Like all Igo models, the Igo 50 comes with a hand-held radio-remote control, with a display for crane operating data. The main electro-hydraulic unit and drive mechanisms are all easily accessible, and there is a central lubrication system for the slew-ring and pinion.

Potain also reports its first sales of Igo cranes in South Africa. An Igo 32has been sold to Neil Muller Construction in Cape Town. Its first project is a new headquarters building for British American Tobacco (BAT) in Stellenbosch. ‘From the high level of interest shown, we are convinced that the time is right for the acceptance of the self-erecting crane concept in a country where there is a huge potential for building and infrastructure development,’ said Paul Rogers, Manitowoc Crane Group regional director in Africa.

Phillips retires from Harrington

Paul Phillips retires from UK tower crane rental company Harrington/HTC in May after 34 years in the construction industry, 20 with the tower crane business now owned by Harrington.

He was managing director of Hewden Stuart’s tower crane operation for a decade until 2002, but decided to step out of the job when Hewden Stuart divested the tower crane business in 2002. ‘I felt it was wrong to move it [to Sheffield] and then leave,’ he said. He said he helped convince the eventual buyer – concrete company owner Pat Harrington — to buy the business. ‘If I’d been 10 years younger I would have bought it myself,’ he said. Instead he took the role of business development director.

Phillips said he would continue his tower crane committee work. He will continue as chairman of the tower crane interest group of the UK’s Construction Plant-Hire Association, which he helped organise in 2003. He will continue as the chairman of the Construction Industry Research and Information Association’s crane stability investigation. He will continue to sit on the tower crane standard group, BS 7121, as well as the European tower crane standards working group CEN TC 147.

Phillips left the National Physical Lab in Teddington in 1962 as a mechanical engineering apprentice and went to work for British Iron and Steel Research Association. He later worked as a plant engineer for Waites Construction.

He has also worked as the operations director of Welham Plant, the general plant operation of construction contractor Mowlem

Shipbuilder orders Liebherr giant

South Korean company Daewoo-Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd placed an order with Liebherr-Werk Biberach for the supply of a large 3150 HC 70 crane for a stationary application at a Korean shipyard. In order to handle large prefabricated ship components, this crane will have a load moment of 3,150tm.

The complete crane which will be permanently installed on a gantry weighs 570t. It has a hook height of 45m and a maximum working radius of 60m. Its maximum lifting capacity at 60 m working radius is 55t in four-fall operation. To suit local conditions, on the one hand, the crane has to run on rails and, on the other, allow large HGVs to pass through as part of a cross-traffic flow. This calls for a gantry with 12 12m supports and a headroom of 9m.

Delivery is scheduled for this month.