Terex crane in space station lift
2 August 2013Florida based rental firm Beyel Brothers used a Terex AC 350/6 all terrain crane to remove an overhead crane at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA from the Space Shuttle’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).
The AC 350/6 crane, boom and 116,7t counterweight was transported in only seven truckloads. With a top speed of 53mph the AC 350/6 got to the job site quickly, which the rental firm said was a timesaver.
Once inside the VAB, Beyel Brothers' crew set up the crane in four hours. Crews worked with 135ft of main boom to remove the overhead crane from the 526ft tall building, the largest single story building in the world. One critical pick was to remove the more than 45.4t drum and cable trolley assembly. Working at a 40-45ft radius, the AC 350/6 all terrain crane lowered the assembly to the floor of the building.
NASA's stringent lifting safety standards required the crane to stay within 75% of its load chart, the AC 350/6 crane was able to perform all lifts without the sideways superlift system. Beyel said that being able to do the lift without the superlift structure saved them an extra truck load, four to five hours of setup and two extra labourers.
Crews also had to complete two picks of the massive girders, one weighing 24t and the other 18.1t. Crew members said that getting the 80ft long girders to the floor was a tight job. The Terex crane performed four additional picks to remove braces between the girders. Once all seven picks were complete, the AC 350/6 crane was derigged and moved out. Total time on the job from move-in to lifts to move out was six days.
