City planning regulations prevented contractor Haebler General Construction putting a tower crane on the sidewalk or the street; nor was there space to put one inside the building. The solution was a self-erector on a frame structure that bridges the sidewalk to keep it open to pedestrian traffic. The frame has the added benefit of raising the hook height beyond 34m.
Gerry Wiebe, vice president sales and business development for Koenig Cranes North America, says that since it is a nine-month rental contract, the cost of the frame is easily justified, especially as renting a self-erector is much cheaper than renting a larger top-slewer.
Wiebe adds: “Also we use the luffing option on over 25% of our placements as self erectors are great at fitting into tight spaces and dealing with clearances and obstructions. This crane is operating in the 30 degree luffed position. In this position Koenig cranes have only a minor loss of range and lifting capacity, which is a major advantage over all of its competitors.”
Koenig Cranes North America is a division of Eagle West Tower Cranes Inc. of British Columbia, Canada. Eagle West started out in business selling, renting and servicing self-erecting tower cranes in May 2002 and now has a hire fleet of 40 cranes. It plans to purchase at least eight more in the next 18 months. It has also sold 12 units, which it supports with service.
In late 2004 Eagle West became the exclusive North American master distributor for German manufacturer Koenig Cranes covering Canada, the USA and Mexico and set up Koenig Cranes North America, with the motto “Bringing innovation to construction”.
Eagle West itself is the exclusive Koenig dealer for Alberta and British Columbia in Canada and Washington State, USA.
This year it has signed up three dealers in the USA, Jcrane in Ohio, Boulder Valley Crane Service in Colorado, and Bob’s Crane Service in southern California.
