
UK tower crane hire company Bennetts Cranes has deployed the world’s first Potain MR 309 luffing jib crane for the redevelopment of the 40, The Broadway office building in Westminster, London, UK. The crane was selected because it met specific urban site requirements.
The crane was launched globally earlier this year and has now been utilised by Bennetts due to its ability to operate in tight spaces, lift heavy loads, and function with limited power thanks to its adjustable power supply.

The MR 309 has a 55 m jib and can be parked at a 9.5 m radius. Other facets of the MR 309 that made it suitable for the job are that it has no component weighing more than 10 tonnes, enabling it to be erected by another luffing jib tower crane on site.
It also needed to have a lifting capacity of over 12 tonnes in order to dismantle the other luffing jib tower crane used for its assembly. The crane’s low moment force was also key as it was bolted to a steel grillage on top of a core structure. Additionally, with limited power availability, the MR 309 crane’s adjustable power supply, supported by the Power Control function, was necessary.
Potain has a longstanding relationship with Bennetts Cranes, dating back to the 1990s, and over the years has supplied numerous tower cranes for the company’s fleet. For the 40 The Broadway project, Potain collaborated closely with Bennetts Cranes to select the right model for the job and in mid-April, the MR 309 was erected with a 55.2 m jib and a 12.5 m tower.
Edward Seager, managing director at Bennetts Cranes, said: “We worked hard to find the right solution for the site that met its requirements and was available for an April start date and duration of the job. The new Potain MR 309 with its 25 tonne maximum load capacity was the only solution that satisfied all the site requirements. Other conventional rope luffing jib tower cranes could give us the lift capacity we needed but could not achieve the out-of-service radius required. Hydraulic luffing jib tower cranes could meet the out-of-service requirement needed but not the lift capacity. The Potain MR 309 was the best solution.”
The launch of the MR 309, along with the MR 329 (251-350 tonne class), completes the latest generation of Potain luffing jib tower cranes, initiated by the MR 229 (201-250 tonne class) launch at Bauma 2022. These cranes are designed to tackle the challenges of high-rise buildings and congested job sites. They incorporate customer feedback for quicker and simpler assembly, greater height under pivot, more powerful load charts, and a minimised out-of-service radius. Additionally, they feature the latest Potain technology, including the Potain Crane Control System (CCS) and Potain Connect telematics solution.
