Australian heavy lift luffing tower cranes and heavy lifting services specialist Marr Contracting has been awarded the subcontract to deliver specialised heavy lifting crane services on the Kangaroo Point Green Bridge, Brisbane, Australia. Marr will use its Marr 2480D Heavy Lift Luffing (HLL) crane which it says is the world’s largest capacity tower crane.
Construction of the Kangaroo Point Green Bridge started in late 2021 and is anticipated to be completed in 2024. At a length of 460 metres the bridge will be among the longest span cable stay pedestrian bridges in the world.
Marr was engaged by Connect Brisbane – a group of bridge design, engineering and construction specialists – to carry out more than ten major lifts and general construction lifting requirements over a period of 12 months.
The Marr M2480D arrived onsite in January 2023. It has been erected and already completed its first lift: a 25 metre by 25 metre working platform.
Working with Marr’s Brisbane-based engineers, Robert Bird Group, Marr has located the crane on a platform in the middle of Brisbane River. With a 64-metre-long boom it can in-stall the bridge mast while minimising any impacts on boats using the river.
The heaviest lift the tower crane will undertake for the project is 180 tonnes and will be the 28-metre-tall prefabricated steel masthead.
According to BESIX Watpac project director, Tim Deere, “Our in-house engineering team was instrumental in identifying this crane at tender phase as the preferred lifting solution for the project. After comparing barge crane and tower crane options, the team confirmed the M2480D was the most suitable crane in the Australian market capable of lifting the fully assembled mast head.”
Marr says its experience working on the construction of the 318-metre towers on Turkey’s 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, Perth’s Matagarup Bridge, and Dubai’s Water Canal Bridges provided Connect Brisbane with a frame of reference for addressing the challenges of constructing the 83-metre-tall mast of the Kangaroo Point Green Bridge.