The tool of choice for heavy lifts in the USA, it would seem is a Manitowoc of some description. Of course, if you want a seriously huge machine you probably have to call for Lampson, or get in some foreign muscle. But for a routine lift of a couple of hundred tonnes or so, Manitowoc has an enviable track record on its home turf, as a few recent projects show.

Take Harmony, for example, general contractor on the Ingleside Cogeneration project in Texas. Here, construction of a two-unit 500MW co-generation power plant began in July 1998 for a joint venture of Occidental Chemical Corporation and Conoco Global Power. The scheduled completion date is July 1999. The plant is designed to process chemicals and use the steam, created as a by-product, for electricity generation.

Harmony has had a series of heavy lifts to carry out and originally considered using a 700t or 800t truck crane. But such a crane would have had to be relocated eight times, which meant that the poor ground (being a coastal area) would have needed extensive treatment to prepare it. But a Manitowoc 888 Ringer, supplied by sister company Nichols Construction along with rigging services, has the reach and capacity to make all the lifts from one location, saving significant amounts of time and money, according to Nichols president Dave Lauve. Lifts include 16 modules weighing 250t and set at radii of up to 29m. From the same spot the 888 Ringer has also placed all 14 sections of duct measuring 24m high, 9m wide and 3m deep, as well as two stacks measuring 41m by 6m.

Another 888 Ringer, this time owned by Essex Crane, was also the lifting tool of choice for a turnaround project at an Amoco refinery in Texas last year. Essex rigged the crane with 91m of boom to place a turbine intake filter housing, weighing 41.6t and measuring 12m high, 9m deep and 9m wide, at a radius of 67m.

But not even a mighty Manitowoc can do everything itself. Crane Rental of Orlando Florida used a 400t telescopic Demag AC 1300 all terrain crane (now called the AC 400) in tandem with a Manitowoc 2250 for three big lifts on a recent turnkey project in Florida.

The project involved hoisting the components of a power plant into place: a 257t generator, a 258t combustion turbine and a 154t transformer. Each of the units arrived at site by railway at different times and were off-loaded at an intersection on the main railway going into the plant.

Logistics were crucial as a coal train visited the site every two days and could not be held up, so the cranes were in place on the day of each lift before their train arrived and a Mack Prime Mover and 317t Nicholas Trailer were moved into position behind the cranes. All rigging was load tested prior to lifts and pre-lift meetings confirmed the plan of action.

On each lift, when the load was lifted off the deck of the rail car, the car was rolled out of the way to allow for the cranes’ tail swing. The load was then placed onto the platform trailer and rolled to a secure place inside the coal yard.

After each unloading, the cranes were dismantled and relocated to the construction site at the plant. Once the cranes were in place, police shut the road and escorted the trailers and load on the 400m trip from the coal yard to the plant. The unit was then positioned by the cranes for offloading. The 2250 was unaided by the Demag, however, when it came to offload and place the 154t transformer.

Engineering services were provided by Dave Duerr of 2DM, who assisted in the load barring and lifting calculations.