Lattice boom crawler cranes are not widely used in Finland, but Finnish crane rental company Lamminsivu Oy is said to have found the Kobelco CKE1800 lattice boom, crawler crane configured with 45m boom with 51m jib more than sufficient to meet the lifting demands during construction of an additional floor to an established shopping mall, adjacent to the Hotel Ilvers, in Tampere, Finland.

Originally scheduled for eight weeks, rental was extended to 12 weeks, during which time the crane was used to lift and place construction elements weighing between 6t and 12t to a height from 20m to 70m.

Because of the location adjacent to the River Tammerkoski, it was not possible to use the more traditional tower crane, and a hydraulic crane with the ability to meet the weight, height and reach demands would have been too large.

With a maximum lifting capacity of 180t / 3.75m, the Kobelco CKE1800 is designed for applications ranging from lifting in the construction industry to river dredging with clamshell bucket, pile driving and heavy lifts in engineering applications. Maximum lift height is 106.7m with 54.9m main boom and 51.8m luffing jib.

Modular design is said to enable transport to site with minimum number of trucks and the ability of the CKE1800 to lift itself from the transporter and then to erect itself without any additional crane being necessary.

For many projects, such as this inner city location, logistics are a serious consideration, and Kobelco says the CKE1800 caused minimum inconvenience ‘being fast and simple to erect’. Transport weight is 43.11t, maximum width is 3.5m, and height is 3.4m.

The company adds: ‘Another feature of the Kobelco CKE Series is the exceptionally low sound levels, even when under full load.

‘The operator has good visibility and, with the aid of in-cab display units, is able to position loads with accuracy, even when working “blind” and being guided by radio communications. For maximum safety, the monitoring devices prevent preset load limits being exceeded and provide the operator with continuous stream of information on the status of the machine.’

Established more than 20 years ago, Lamminsivu Oy has built up a fleet of 12 cranes, which include Kobelco RK250 all terrain hydraulic cranes and Kobelco EK1800 lattice boom crawler cranes.

According to the president of Lamminsivu Oy, Vesa Lamminsivu: ‘Projects such as this are very good business for us because they enable other contractors to see Kobelco cranes in action. We expect a great deal more interest in using this solution from throughout Finland.’

Harbour crane delivery

Hitachi Sumitomo has delivered a specially adapted SCX900 crane for material handling of 10t at 20m radius (single line) in a harbour application.

The customer is Dutch company Kloosterboer, which offers a logistics facilities and services related to frozen food and cold storage. It already operates several Hitachi cranes in Ijmuiden, The Netherlands.

The heart of the machine is the standard Hitachi SCX900. The conversion to harbour crane has been carried out by HCME in Holland.

Hitachi decided to move up only the boom rather than the complete upper structure, and this is said to have resulted in benefits in terms of a lower centre of gravity and easier maintenance.

The new machine will be used for the ‘round-the-clock’ loading and unloading of vessels transporting frozen fish.

As the location is directly on the North Sea, the entire machine has been prepared using a marine-proof painting system.

The operating weight of the crane is 80t, and it has a boom length of 34m. The cabin is equipped with climate control, full colour camera system, and safe load indicator. The maximum capacity of the crane is 90t at a 4m radius.

Liebherr quartet at refinery

Four Liebherr crawler cranes, with a total lifting capacity of 1,060t, were used to replace a 250t convection zone at a refinery in Wilhelmshaven, Germany. The load had to be lifted to a height of 20m. Two LR 1400/1 and two LR 1130 cranes were used, and it took a week to plan and prepare the lifts, after which equipment was transported to the site on 30 low loaders.

After the two LR 1130s (each rated at 130t capacity) had lifted the flue gas duct a few centimetres, and had a total load of 52t on their hooks, the two 400t LR 1400/1s were able to lift the convection zone. With the 24m-long steel section suspended on their ropes, the cranes travelled around 80m through a narrow passage between the refinery facilities.

Meanwhile, a Liebherr HS 895 HD crawler crane has been employed for flood protection work around the dyke passage of the city dyke in the centre of Hamburg, Germany.

The flood protection wall had to be raised. Raked piles with an inclination of 1:1 were therefore installed. An HS 895 HD crawler crane from contractor Prien completed the job within three months.

The HS 895 HD was equipped with 85.5t counterweight, 36t carbody counterweight and a 55.1m main boom. It was fitted with a 54m swinging lead and, standing on a barge, installed piles of 43m length into the sea bed. Each pile weighed 9t. The crawler crane piled with an IHC hydraulic hammer, type S70, weighing 10.5t including the pile cap.

The crane achieved a daily production of four to five piles.