ALL TERRAINS Ӏ SECTOR REPORT


ALL-TERRAINS, THE LAST AND THE FIRST


Models and brand-names come; models and brand-names go... but all-terrains continue. Julian Champkin says hail and farewell.


The last Liebherr LTM 1500-8.1 all-terrain crane rolled off its Ehingen production line in November. It is a crane that has been in production for a remarkable 23 years. 626 of the eight-axle heavy-lift all-terrains have been made; and they have been exported all round the word – this last 1500-78.1 of them all is destined for a lifting contractor in Brazil. Such a long production run


says much about the versatility of the crane and the type, as well as about the quality of the original design and the advantages that all-terrain cranes in general offer. Liebherr are calling in the most successful large crane of all time. It has had upgrades in that time,


of course, and improvements; the ability to absorb improvements is one of the hallmarks of good design. Back in 1998, when it was being designed, the LTM 1500 had good things to offer – but perhaps not quite so good as they became. Joachim Henkel was head of


Liebherr’s structural engineering department at the time. “The variability of two telescopic booms, measuring 50 and 84 metres in length, was a unique selling


20 CRANES TODAY


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