The Earls Court development, led by Capital & Counties Properties (Capco) will create 8,000 homes and 10,000 new jobs as well as a new high street and a new five-acre park in London.

Demolition of the former exhibition centre to ground level has been completed after two years of intensive work on site, managed by Capco’s construction partner, Keltbray.

The crane is the most visible part of the important site preparation that will take place throughout 2017 to prepare the site for future construction.

The AL.SK190 will carefully lift 61 ‘portal beams’ out from over the London Underground lines that lie below the former exhibition centre. The large concrete beams supported the weight of the exhibition centre and need to be removed to enable development on site.

The smallest beam is 80t with the largest beam weighing 1,500t, the same as 118 London buses.

ALE said the crane is 120m high and is the largest capacity lifting crane ever to be used in London. The crane will operate only on the Earls Court site and will not oversail any of the nearby properties.

David Rowe, technical manager for Keltbray, said: “By utilising this crane and lifting method, disruption is minimised and the crane’s high capacity and precision lifting technology will reduce the overall project timescale  considerably. With the successful demolition of the former exhibition centres last year the lifting of the large portal beams is the next big task at Earls Court as we prepare the site for construction. The project team has worked tirelessly to ensure the most appropriate technology was chosen and implemented in order to minimize disruption to our neighbours.”

Giovanni Alders, sales manager, global projects division, for ALE said: “Operationally, this crane can perform lifts previously unachievable and reinforces the innovation seen throughout the whole project. We are looking forward to progressing with the project and executing the first lift.”