Wolffkran heads for Mecca

Millions of Muslims travel to the city to observe Hajj every year, and as a result Mecca has expanded signifigantly over the last few years.

The accommodation complex, under construction since 2004, is part of major development works in the city, which also includes the erection of the 600m tall Mecca Royal Clock Tower, expected to become the second largest skyscraper in the world after the Burj Khalifa.

Mecca’s Great Mosque of al-Haram is home to what Muslims consider the holiest shrine in Islam, the Kaaba, meaning that non-Muslims are not permitted to enter the holy site.

As a result Wolffkran, along with its sales partner in the region Roots Group, conducted several training sessions for permitted muslims, focused on the assembly and disassembly of Wolffkran tower cranes.

In addition some cranes were preassembled before transport to the holy site, something Wolffkran believes was simplified by the low individual piece weight of the firm’s luffing jib crane components.

20 luffing jib tower cranes were delivered for the first phase of the project, followed by a mixture of luffing jib tower cranes and overhead gantry model cranes, in the middle to upper torque area, for the second phase.

In total, 44 Wolffkran cranes are expected to remain on site until May 2012. Wolffkran Arabia managing director, Jareer Jadallah commented: “An efficient building site solution requires professional planning work, so that only the required number of construction cranes are used in a small space.”