The 68,000lbs, 100ft chimney stack fell unexpectedly at the site, and was balanced 160ft above the ground between the old plant and new boiler house.
For the recovery operation, a Model 18000 crawler crane and a Grove GMK7550 truck crane were paired up. The Model 18000 was equipped with a 300ft boom, 110ft jib, 492,000lbs of counterweight, 320,000lbs of carbody weight and 772,000lbs of wheeled counterweight. The GMK7550 worked with a 179ft main boom, 161ft luffing jib and 264,500lbs of counterweight.
The lift required the Model 18000 to work at a radius of 290ft, with the GMK7550 working at a radius of 155ft.
CRC used a number of attachments to secure the chimney stack during the lift, including rolling blocks, spreader bars and 60ft x 1.5ft cables to choke the stack.
After the load was safely removed from its fallen position, the mill owners elected to take advantage of the cranes being on site and used them to remove and replace several other stacks and pieces of equipment.
