Tunnel duty: German foundations contractor Bauer Spezialtiefbau is using a duty-cycle Manitowoc 1015 on a tunneling job project near Eupen, in Belgium, near the German border. The project is part of Belgian railways’ expansion of its high speed rail network, to provide a fast link between Brussels in Belgium and Cologne in Germany. Bauer is a subcontractor to Société de Travaux Galère and is responsible for building a 1.1km tunnel under the E40 motorway, which must remain open during construction work. The tunnel is being built with 300 diaphragm wall panels of 1200mm and 1500mm thickness and 7250mm length at depths up to 22m. The 1015 crane is fitted with a Stein K-1210 two-rope diaphragm wall grab, which weighs 26t when empty. It is hoisted by the crane’s standard 30t winches and the 1015’s multi-disc clutch/brake design allows the grab to be lowered in free fall. Using the foot pedals in the cab, the operator can control the rotation of the grab to steer it into the trench and position it for discharging the excavated material.
