Tower cranes don’t just shape city skylines, they rise to the challenge wherever they’re needed. For dockside, to out at sea, even on a mountain top, these following projects showcase just how adaptable and awe-inspiring these machines can truly be…
Travelling Tower Power
The Port of Nantes commissions a custom travelling gantry mounted tower crane from Potain Lift Solutions.
The Port of Nantes in France added to its lifting capabilities with the purchase of a custom-built Potain MD 689 M25.
The new crane was bought to facilitate the loading of larger ships with greater air draughts and increased capacities.
Crucially the Potain top-slewing crane was mounted on a travelling gantry that interfaces directly with the Potain Crane Control System (CCS) to travel across 170 metres of rails, covering all three of the port’s dry docks.
To achieve this the port worked with Potain Lift Solutions, a specialised division of Manitowoc that provides custom-engineered tower crane solutions for challenging and large-scale projects.
This was the first time that a Potain crane equipped with frequency inverter drives has been mounted on a travelling gantry.
This integration delivers smooth, stepless motion along the tracks and excellent lifting performance, says Potain. It also offers onboard assistance, particularly when paired with Potain’s Connect digital platform for real-time remote diagnostics, machine operation alerts, and remote actions.
The MD 689 25 was set up with permanent double reeving, providing a maximum lift capacity of 25t when the jib is at 26m, and 7.6t when the jib is extended to its maximum of 75m.
For its working location the crane was treated with paint to withstand the highly corrosive portside environment meeting the C5-H standard under ISO 12944.
Other customisations included specially designed access and dedicated lighting. This features a lighting system operated from the control station that can be dimmed to avoid interfering with ground operations.
There are also work cameras on the trolley and portal, as well as a communications system featuring in-cab microphones and speakers, an external loudspeaker, and channel encryption.
The new crane has been operating at the port’s naval maintenance and repair quay since March, replacing a crane that had been in operation since 1960.
Flying High
German crane rental specialist BKL Baukran Logistik assembles a Saez tower crane on a mountain in Austria using a helicopter.
German crane rental specialist BKL Baukran Logistik (BKL) was commissioned by Austrian cable car company Silvrettaseilbahn to erect a tower crane up a mountain to help build a new cable car station in Ischgl, Austria. The construction site location was at an altitude of around 2,300 metres above sea level and could not be reached via vehicle. Using a helicopter was the only way to assemble the crane there.
The tower crane BKL used was its 130 tonne-metre Saez TLS 60 14. This crane, it said, is powerful yet modular and light enough to be airlifted to the site by helicopter.
The schedule was tight as there was only a short timeframe in which to set up the crane after the ski season ended but before rising temperatures would make helicopter operations impossible.
In addition, flights were also affected by the altitude-related limitation of the load capacity to 3.2 tonnes so efficiency was key.
BKL transported the crane parts to the place of departure using several trucks with shortened trailers to safely navigate the narrow mountain roads.
At the helicopter departure point BKL prepared the crane components so that they could be quickly attached to the helicopter.
To further facilitate efficient assembly BKL configured the crane without a cabin and removed other non-essential components to save weight and helicopter hours.
It also weighed and marked each component in advance to ensure a smooth process.
At the construction site BKL’s service engineers secured the crossbase on a pre-concreted surface to save heavy base ballast.
To enable the tower sections to be flown in closely timed sets, they were first set up and partially bolted together. The final bolting was done in the flight breaks.
Despite adverse weather conditions and a flight break of several hours due to dense fog BKL completed the crane assembly in just 15 flights over one day.
A YouTube video of the job can be seen here: https://youtu.be/8gafDZmvtuI
Challenging Conditions
Four Liebherr EC-H series tower cranes are building a bridge between islands in Norway
In western Norway the Ytre Steinsund Bridge is currently under construction.
The project is being carried out by construction company Skanska which secured the contract in June 2023.
Once completed, by the end of 2026, the cantilever bridge will replace the ferry connection between the islands of Ytre Sula and Sula providing a fixed link to the mainland near Hardbakke.
For the project four Liebherr EC-H series tower cranes are being used: three Liebherr 280 EC-H 12 Litronic cranes, with hook heights of up to 60.3 metres, and one 132 EC-H, with a hook height of 27.5 metres.
The high-top cranes have a working radius of up to 60 metres and are lifting steel and concrete components which are being delivered by boat to below the bridge.
According to Liebherr the intelligent Litronic control system of the 280 EC-H cranes ensures smooth and safe movements, even in changing wind conditions.
The cranes are mounted on various foundation types for optimal anchoring and maximum stability. Three of the four cranes are installed on cross bases as well as on solid concrete foundations with anchoring. The other crane is positioned directly in the water on a specially designed steel frame, which is partially cantilevered over the water and anchored to the seabed.
