Companies from eight different European countries were among the winners of the 2023 ESTA Awards in one of the most competitive competitions the organisation has held.

The winners were revealed at the special awards dinner – hosted by Paris-based TV personality Alex Taylor – on April 20, attended by over 400 senior industry guests from right across Europe.

Held at the Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin, Noordwijk, near Amsterdam in the Netherlands, the Covid pandemic meant this was only the second in-person event since 2019.

The winners were:

1. Combined Techniques

WINNER: Friderici Spécial SA

An extremely tight entry into the substation with only a few centimetres margin, an extreme slope of 15% and a very tight spot for the foundation setting operation: those were the major challenges to get a transformer of 74 tonnes from Regensburg, Germany, to its destination in Zürich, Switzerland.

2. Transport, trailer and load under 120 tonnes gross weight

WINNER: Laso Transportes

An Blade Lifter solution was chosen to transport windmill blades up to 82 metres in length through small villages and via narrow curved roads in the Algarve, Portugal.

3. Crane Job of the Year [telescopic], lifting capacity more than 120 tonnes

WINNER: BMS

During the positioning of a 95 tonnes steel bridge, the crane setup changed from a single-lift to a tandem-lift while the lifting operation was in progress. This solution significantly reduced the required crane capacity and necessary crane position preparation.   

4. Safety

WINNER: Fagioli
An sea-fastening system, based on the strand jack system, was developed for the safe and secure sea transportation of two STS cranes from Malta to Marseille.

5. Innovation

WINNER: Fagioli
For maintenance purposes, an innovative movable strandjack solution was developed to lift up a series of concrete viaducts, weighing 1,400 tonnes each.

6. Crane Job of the Year [telescopic], lifting capacity under 120 tonnes and knuckle boom of any capacity

WINNER: Hareket

For a funicular line project in Istanbul, Turkey, a set of 22-metre-long wagons weighing 23 tonnes each had to be installed underground via a narrow shaft. A carefully prepared tandem lift operation was carried out successfully.

7. Transport, trailer and load over 120 tonnes gross weight

WINNER: MTD Skuratowicz

For the transport of a Tunnel Boring Machine from Opole to Babica in Poland, only a route of 750 kilometres via Warsaw was feasible. The TBM was 112 metres long, weighed 4,000 tonnes and was dismantled into nearly 100 components for the purpose of the transport which took place over 15 nights.

8. Lattice boom crane job of the year

WINNER: Mammoet

Using 3D precision planning software, the lifting solution for a 430 tonnes filter unit in a very confined plant space was completely visualised. The actual lift was carried out with a PTC35-DS crane that could lift and install the filter unit safely and efficiently in one piece.

9. SPMT|SPT Job of the Year

WINNER: Mammoet
Several world records were broken by using 748 axle lines of SPMT and 30 power packs to move the 20,300-ton FPSO vessel Curlew into a decommissioning and recycling facility in Norway.

10. TRAINING

WINNER: Liebherr – Werk Ehingen

A new standard has been set up to train crane operators [up to ECOL-level], dispatchers and workshop staff. The extensive programs involve e-learning modules, live-stream sessions and face-to-face training courses and have a strong focus on improving safety in the industry.