Roderick van Seumeren describes Mammoet’s winning crane job of the year at the ESTA awards.
Christian-Jacques Vernazza, ESTA president
At the event, SC&RA executive vice-president Joel Dandrea said: “I have a single message: our success is built on strong alliances and partnerships.” He added later: “The alliance with ESTA can only be another forward stride to progress.”
Vernazza said that the up-cycle was the best time to make improvements. “In 35 years, I have never seen such a good economical situation as we feel today. Nevertheless, we must be careful and humble, because we know that after the sunshine sometimes comes rain. And during exceptional situations it is the right time to consolidate and upgrade our industry. The manufacturers seem to have understood it with their prices. But the users may have some way to go. It’s time to build a strong and safe industry of services. I hope you will share my view; we need your help to achieve this goal.”
He announced that ESTA is setting up three workgroups. The promotion and membership group is producing a newsletter, among other things. A harmonisation group that is planning to put together a best practice guide for rental contracts and working with manufacturers to attempt to create standard categories for transport vehicles with set axle spacing and axle loadings.
He also alluded to plans to organise some collective insurance arrangements. Provided the association can improve safety and reduce accidents, he said, “the insurance companies will grant us reduced rates. That has been done in the States and we must copy it,” he said.
Otto Rettenmaier, named personality of the year 2007 at the ESTA awards
It also gave two new awards to manufacturers. Its innovation of the year went to Manitowoc Crane Group’s GTK 1100 special windmill crane, and its development of the year award went to the 1,200t capcaity LTM 11200-9.1 mobile crane.
Vernazza announced that the next ESTA awards ceremony will take place in Hanover, Germany in September 2008.
ESTA award winners
Crane job of the year, cranes under 100t capacity
Winner: Ainscough Crane Hire, UK
Awkward tandem lifts telescoping in 4.5t loads under a low roof at the Millenium Stadium, Cardiff
Second place: Mammoet, Netherlands
Tandem lifting of 20t loads measuring 11m (36 ft) inside a factory
Third place: H van Oorschot, Netherlands
Salvaged a derailed gantry crane with four cranes and two aerial work platforms
Crane job of the year, cranes over 100t capacity
Winner: Mammoet, Netherlands
Installed two 54m (177 ft) 2,050t reactors in Inner Mongolia, requiring a mobilisation of 1,200km (750 mi)
Second place: BMS, Denmark
Installing a 203t roof truss section with three cranes, plus two more for exact positioning.
Third place: Mediaco, France
Nine-month, 12-crane project to deconstruct sections of the partially-collapsed Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, France
Hauling job of the year, gross vehicle weight under 120t
Winner: Convoi, Netherlands
Custom-designed a rotation tool to move 3t MRI magnets
Second place: R Collett & Sons, UK
Managed the shipment of a load from Poland, and local transport in Scunthorpe
Third place: Van de Wetering, Netherlands
A tricky yacht move over land with low loader
Hauling job of the year, gross vehicle weight over 120t
Winner: Mammoet, Netherlands
Installed a 2,500t prefabricated bridge in New York City with trailers on pontoons. “The current in the river was strong. This was quite a difficult job,” said Mammoet managing director Roderick van Seumeren, in accepting the award.
Second place: Transports LeClerc, France
Took down, moved and re-installed old railway bridge
Third place: Wagenborg Nedlift, Netherlands
Transported a 52m, 125t C3 splitter over land and water.
