Potain’s Hong Kong distributor Manta Engineering has helped keep the French company’s traditional saddle jib towers prominent in Hong Kong, in spite of the popularity of luffing cranes.
Hong Kong contractor Hip Hing has recently taken delivery of three new Potain cranes for its Tung Chung Station project. Three MD 175/G10 cranes brings to six the total number of Potain towers on the development project.
The 21.7ha site is the largest parcel of lad being developed by the Airport Railways Property Development Programme and comprises 843,120m2 of building space. It will form an integral part of Tung Chung new town and be the gateway to Hong Kong for those lading at the new Chek Lap Kok International Airport.
The purpose-ordered MD 175s include one 40m jib and two 55m jib units. They have a 10t maximum lifting capacity and can lift 3.4t at 40m and 2t at 55m.
The other three Potain cranes on site are two MD 235/G12s, with a 55m jib and maximum 12t capacity (3t at 55m), and an EC 10/14C, with a 40m jib.
Since introducing the MD series to Hong Kong in 1994, Manta Engineering has delivered more than 100 of them, including MD 175s, 185As, 235s and 265s. Hip Hing alone has 13 of them.
Potain’s tower cranes were also evident throughout construction of the Ground Transportation Centre at Chek Lap Kok. For all lifting duties, main contractor Nishimatsu Construction relied on a rail-mounted H 20/14 (36.6m hook height), a rail mounted F 3/29B (39.5m hook height), and a static H 25/14C (35.8m hook height). All three featured 50m jib length.
Running two of the three on rails enabled the entire site to be covered and eliminated the need for at least two further cranes, according to Potain.
