The 386USt (350t) crane has a 334.6ft (102m) boom and can be fitted with a 315ft luffing jib. It comes with Manitowoc’s Crane Control System as standard.
The work in Ridgefield started last February. The MLC300 was positioned on a bulkhead built on the shore of the river. From there, the crane enabled Ceccanti to set shaft cages, position casings, place girders, and perform all other construction support without moving. The MLC300 lifted girders as heavy as 66.5USt to heights of 65ft and rebar cages as heavy as 61USt to as high as 125ft.
“We chose the MLC300 because of its superior capacity at radius and its maneuverability when compared to similar cranes in its range, and even larger cranes,” said Jake Brockmoller, project manager at Ceccanti. “This crawler crane’s radius allowed service of 75% of the job with help from the derrick barge. We would have certainly lost time and money if we had deployed other equipment.”
Initially, the contractor had the job scheduled to take 14 months to complete, but it is going to wrap up approximately five months ahead of schedule, in November. By then, the single-lane wooden bridge will be replaced by a two-lane concrete bridge that will pass over railroad tracks on the opposite riverbank.