John Sutch Cranes has installed a large walk-through light sculpture titled Invisible Cities at Liverpool’s Pier Head for this year’s River of Light festival, after being appointed by Liverpool City Council to undertake the lifting task.
The art piece, designed by Atelier Sisu, now stands in front of the Royal Liver Building, the Port of Liverpool Building and the Cunard Building.
Invisible Cities is composed of interlocking metal ribbons supported by steel towers, forming a structure that festival visitors can walk through as it illuminates after dark.
Each section needed to be lifted and held steadily in place while the installation team fixed it from access platforms, requiring slow, controlled movements in a busy public area.
Planning for the lift was completed ahead of the crane’s arrival on site.
A risk assessment and method statement were prepared and signed off by Phil Miller, John Sutch Cranes’ Appointed Person.
The lifts were conducted in accordance with the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) and BS 7121, the crane safety code of practice.
The Pier Head, recognised as part of Liverpool’s World Heritage waterfront, presented a compact and busy workspace with significant pedestrian traffic and some of the city’s most well-known buildings metres away from the installation site.
John Sutch Cranes technical sales representative Phil Miller said: “Lifting in front of the Liver Building is about as Liverpool as it gets for us.
“You’ve got the public, a heritage site and a delicate piece of art, so everything is worked out on paper well before the crane turns up. On the day, it’s about doing exactly what we planned.”
John Sutch Cranes operates depots in Liverpool and Manchester and has a record of carrying out city centre lifts.
The company was also involved in lifting a lighting rig at St George’s Hall for the Peaky Blinders film shoot in 2024.
Last month, John Sutch Cranes deployed a 60t Sany SAC600E mobile crane to support a major UK housebuilding project, carrying out a full day of lifting work at the development site.
