crane certifications

A CRACK in a crane at Victoria’s troubled desalination plant forced the evacuation of 120 workers yesterday. The workers were sent home at 2.30pm on full pay after the fault was detected in a crane in the pumping station area of the plant. Thiess Degremont spokeswoman Serena Middleton said the workers were evacuated for safety reasons.

The new transmission tower, built on the commercial dock owned by Superior Aggregates in Michipicoten Harbour, has been given a three-kilometer lift into Dore Lake, where high winds recently toppled the former tower, vital for power from Ontario to Manitoba. A skycrane helicopter, used to replace cranes in hard-to-reach areas, was flown in from the West Coast. It has a capacity to lift 20,000 pounds.

The Liebherr LR 1600/2 crawler crane operated by US crane rental company Bigge Crane and Rigging Co. has been hard at work on a wind farm in Ohio. With a main boom 108 metres in length and a fixed jib of 12 metres (the SL3F system), the crane recently lifted a Games G90 machine housing weighing 75 tonnes onto the top of a 100 metre tower.

For nearly a year, it’s become a familiar landmark, visible from most points in south Glenwood Springs. JE Dunn Construction’s massive, royal-blue tower crane may be the tallest contraption in the sky. But don’t get too used to seeing it.

Linden Comansa is launching a new flat top tower crane series. The LC1600 will be introduced in October and comprise three models: the 16 LC 185, 16 LC 220 and 16 LC 260. The LC1600 series has been designed with modularity and easiness of assembly and transport in mind. The 8 to 12 tonne capacity series sits between the existing 5 to 8 tonne LC1100 and 12 to 48 tonne LC2100 series’.

Self-erecting cranes are helping build an apartment complex in downtown Indianapolis, Ind. The contractor, Larry R Wagler Construction, chose the cranes for their easy assembly and ability to operate in limited space. Larry Wagler, owner of the company, has used self-erecting cranes since 2006 and finds Potain self-erecting cranes indispensible for the type of framing work his company does, which is primarily building commercial properties in crowded urban areas.

Salzburg, Austria-based Palfinger continues to make design enhancements to its articulating boom cranes, which are available in North America through Palfinger Inc., Niagara Falls, Ontario. The latest development—High Performance Stability Control (HPSC)—has most recently been added to the PK 78002 SH and PK 65002 SH models, which are the two largest models in the SH product line. The PK 78002 SH has a lifting moment of 74.7 tonne-meters. Equipped with up to eight hydraulic extensions, it achieves a hydraulic outreach of 20.4 meters.

Hand over hand, one rung at a time, a visitor arrives panting and pouring sweat at the office of Kirk Luba, 180 feet above terra firma. It’s the catbird seat of a Liebherr 316, one of four giant tower cranes doing the heavy lifting on the Memorial Stadium project.

New Zealand Crane Group is installing Standfast’s TRAM – Travel Restraint Access Module – fall protection system, on every crane in its fleet above 80 tonnes.

NZ Crane managing director Deane Manley said: “It has been standard industry practice for years to climb on top of booms without adequate fall protection, but this has just got to stop.

Jumbo Offshore has been awarded the transport and installation contract for all 111 transition pieces on the Anholt offshore wind farm in Denmark.