High rollers

The whole tower crane market took quite a jolt last year with the lively Southeast Asian market virtually drying up in the wake of the 1997 currency crisis. But there has been more to smile about in 1999. In particular, the USA is growing in interest as a tower crane market, as reported elsewhere in this issue. Liebherr, Peiner and Potain are among the main beneficiaries. Germany has also picked up, with house- building generating demand for self-erectors. Construction activity in the UK has been good for the likes of MAN Wolffkran and Comedil, in particular.

Krøll and Favelle Favco, sister companies in the Muhibbah group, have also been putting together some interesting machinery. Krøll’s massive K-1800 tower crane is in operation on the Three Gorges dam project in China, as reported in both our August and October issues.

Favco builds big

Two of the largest cranes that Favelle Favco has ever built are being completed in Australia for construction of what is aiming to be the world’s tallest building. The 1250 D-type luffing tower cranes have been ordered for the Taipei Financial Centre, in Taiwan, which will be built by two contractors: Nippon Steel and China Steel Structure Corporation. When completed, the building will be higher than the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia, the current record holder. Each crane has a maximum lift capacity of 100t at 22m radius, and will be lifting super-columns, weighing up to 80t, to heights of 260m. The first of these huge units are ready for shipment from Australia this month, and both are to be delivered to Taiwan before the end of the year.

Favelle Favco’s outright biggest cranes ever were the model 760s which it shipped to the USA earlier this year.

In an unusual departure from supplying cranes into the construction and marine industries Favelle Favco has made a step into the mining industry with the sale of a high-capacity tower crane for a dedicated application at an Australian mining project.

An M 440 D luffing boom crane, purchased by Fluor Daniel, has taken residence at Mt. Isa Mines, Queensland, for the construction and maintenance of an acid gas handling plant at the mine’s existing copper smelter. It is the first model M 440 D sold in Australia, and consists of a free-standing tower – in 10 sections of 4m each – fitted with a 50m luffing boom. Currently it is performing lifts up to 32t (using a 2-fall rope system) to assemble steel modules up to 32t in weight at the site. However it also has the capacity to lift up to 48t loads using a triple fall line, according to Huey Seng Law, general manager/director of Favelle Favco in Sydney. The crane is powered by a 190kW (250hp) Cat diesel engine driving hydraulic pumps, motors and rams.

On completion of construction work at the smelter, later this year, the crane will remain in situ to be used for future maintenance shutdown purposes, an economic alternative to the usual practice of hiring in large cranes later.

Jaso makes it easy

Other manufacturers have also been busy with new product. Jaso of Spain has introduced the NS series of tower cranes this year, including the J-52-NS model, which reaches 52m and has a 1.1t tip load. Jaso has designed the crane with bolted elements which allow the equipment to be divided for easy mounting or dismantling. They are designed modularly, so that the tower and jib sections can be used on different models. Jaso adds that the mechanisms are all easy to reach by stairs and platforms, which are fitted with safety handrails.

The jib has a triangular section lattice girder, supported by one or two ties. The profile is designed to ensure that they offer minimum wind resistance, allowing them to function in bad weather.

Wolff’s new luffer

New from MAN Wolffkran this year is the WK 320 BF, a luffing jib crane which replaces the WK 320 BE. Fitted with the new frequency converter technology, all drives are frequency controlled. Wolff says that the advantage of this is that it gives regulated level luffing, 50% reduction in energy consumption and sensitive speeds for an exact positioning of pre-assembled units.

Next year Wolff plans to introduce a new range of large saddle jib cranes, with something special promised for a launch at the Intermat show in Paris in May.

Significant orders have come from Wolff’s UK distributor, Hewden Tower Cranes, which is replenishing its fleet over the next six to 10 months. Hewden has three WK 500B cranes on an office building project for Merrill Lynch in London.

On the corporate front, the company has also invested in its Swiss distribution operation. Cranes were previously distributed by Robert Aebi, but in July the two companies formed a joint venture, Wolffkran Schweiz, which is majority owned by Wolffkran. The stated reason for taking a stake in the distribution outlet is to take better advantage of growing market potential. A rental fleet of about 600 towers is also offered to customers in Switzerland.

After a few weak years in its domestic market, Germany – to the point where it was nearly taken over by Potain in 1997 until the deal fell through at the last hurdle – MAN Wolffkran is more optimistic today. “All over the world we can feel that customers are willing to invest in new cranes again,” the company says. “We have noticed a positive development in the crane market.” Comedil pushes in the UK

Gru Comedil, owned by Terex since last year, has a reinvigorated distribution channel in the UK, with the appointment of Mike Studd as director of its UK distributor Select Tower Cranes, part of contractor O’Rourke’s plant hire operations. Select has this year grown its tower fleet from a little over 30 cranes to around 50. It has also picked up a £2m ($3.2m) contract to provide six cranes – luffing and flat-top – for construction of the new Scottish Parliament building.

Among the new cranes in Select’s fleet is a flat-top CTT 561-20, which offers jib lengths of up to 85m, free standing heights of 92.3m, and lifts a maximum 32t. This crane can currently be seen on site in Manchester, on the Great Northern Experience retail development.

Select also has a smaller flat-top model, a CTT 331-16, on site at Canary Wharf in London where it is operating alongside four luffing CTL 400-24 cranes to help construct a 210m-high office block. The flat-top crane, which has a 75m jib and maximum 16t capacity, will rise to have a height under hook of 240m. The luffers can lift 5t to 60m and 8.1t to 50m and feature, according to Select, “what is thought to be the fastest hoist speeds of any tower crane in use in the UK”. Two of the luffers will climb up the inside of the building, and two on the outside.

On an adjacent site there will soon be five Wolff towers from Hewden Tower Cranes. Four 320Bs and an internal climbing 180B will be erecting the new HongKong Shanghai Bank.

Gru Comedil itself, in Italy, has taken an order for 35 cranes from a customer in Libya.

Potain finds new things to sell

Potain has been busy integrating the product line added by acquiring BKT. The Potain Topless MDT range comprises nine models from 50tm to 400tm. Similarly, the luffing range has been extended from two models to 14. The old BKT cranes now feature Potain’s K masts.

New from Potain is the tractor-towed, ballasted Potain HD crane. The self-erecting HD 32 and HD 40 now have the trailer and ballast incorporated into their design for ease of transport.

The French company has responded to the downturn in sales in key markets such as Southeast Asia by seeking new products to promote through its distribution outlet. For example, in France it is offering the Marchetti Trio mobile crane. Globally, it is also offering the PC 10T portable crane, which it will show at the Batimat exhibition this month. This hydraulic crane, developed by the Australian, Ron Laczko, has a total weight of 8.9t but no component weighs more than 253kg. A typical application would be mounted on top of a structure to hoist up materials or cladding. Maximum capacity is 10t and it lifts 600kg at maximum radius of 10.34m.

Potain has also launched a range of modular hoists and site lifts this year, under the PH (for Potain Hoist) designation. The four hoists range from 200kg to 2t capacities while the two Duo site lifts are rated at 50kg and 1.5t. The Duo can be used as both a material hoist and passenger hoist.