The 31000 is owned by South Korea’s Chunjo Construction, who said they were impressed with the crane’s unique Variable Position Counterweight (VPC) system, used for the first time during the cold box lift.
The crane lifted the 55m tall 9m by 9m cold box off a flat-bed trailer in tandem with a 600t capacity Manitowoc 18000, also owned by Chunjo. Once the load was airborne and upright, the 31000 took over and carried the load to its final location. The entire operation took less than two hours.
Manitowoc said that the lift was made challenging by a high wall to the side of the 31000 that restricted the crane’s movement. To avoid the wall the crane’s entire 55 m boom was raised to its highest angle, bringing the load closer to the crane and minimizing potential swing. The crane was also fitted with a 36 m luffing jib.
The 31000 has completed a range of challenging lifts around the congested site. Two of the previous largest lifts included placing reactors that weighed 250t and 450t each. Manitowoc said that its Crane Care engineers work closely with Chunjo to support its operators throughout its major lifts.
Chunjo has a fleet of more than 120 Manitowoc crawler cranes, Grove mobile cranes and Potain tower cranes. It owns more Manitowoc 18000s than any other company in the world.
The crane’s design means it can be disassembled, moved and re-assembled in just four weeks. Further lifts are planned at the site with a 900t pick scheduled for November and two 1,000t lifts due to take place in December and February.
