Liebherr said: “The challenge was to provide a design for a travelling crane to facilitate repairs and maintenance on the dredging installation including the regular replacement of the cutter.”
The jib was specially designed in the form of a “bow” in order to ensure that the distance between the lifting appliance for the special cutter and the tip of the jib is kept to a minimum, thus avoiding extensive swing of the cutter during lifting due to heel and trim conditions.
An additional remote control system was delivered in addition to the standard crane cabin control so allowing the operator to observe the maintenance operations more closely and so increase efficiency and safety.
The design of the crane itself is based on the Liebherr CBW-type electro-hydraulic ram luffing deck crane.
Liebherr concluded: “Thanks to the height of the gantry, the crane can travel over the bridge housing to the aft deck and to the maintenance area for repairing the used cutters and storing spare cutters. The travelling gears are designed for minimum maintenance and extended lifetime by use of a teeth rack and pinion system and an innovated guiding system of the gantry.”