HEAVY LIFTING Ӏ SECTOR REPORT
recent addition is smaller… but only in comparison: the SGC-90 has a capacity of 90,000TM but is intended for projects in the nuclear, logistics, construction and, again, offshore wind sectors. It is nicknamed ‘Little Celeste’ and is fully electric, fully silent, and the first and only one of its kind. The entire series is the product of Sarens’ in-house engineering and technical teams. Sarens has a place for both
types of heavy lifters. “The high lifting capacity of the LR 12500- 1.0 is the outstanding feature for us,” says Sel. “The new crane will enable us to close the gap between our crawler and ringer cranes.” How many more LR12500 cranes Sarens will buy – and Liebherr will be able to sell, to them and other customers – is going to depend on demand and need for their use. Is Sarens planning to
Autokrane
Schares' Enerpac jack-up system in place under the bridge
add more? “We are always open to expanding our fleet as we need to remain the reference point for our clients,” says Sel, not committing himself. But he does say that worldwide demand for heavy lifts is increasing: “The demand is robust and growing. We see a significant increase in requests for our services across various industries. The primary sectors driving demand for heavy lift are infrastructure, energy, and construction.” Specifically, he says, Sarens is seeing substantial activity in renewable energy projects, including wind installations, large-scale infrastructure projects like bridges and highways, and significant construction ventures. “The worldwide demand for
our very heavy lifters, including giant ring cranes, is substantial and growing. As projects grow in complexity and scale the need for cranes capable of lifting and manoeuvring massive components is increasing. The global shift towards renewable energy and the construction of larger and more ambitious infrastructure projects are key drivers of this expansion.” Is there a market for five of
their huge ring cranes, or ten, or more perhaps, worldwide? “Yes, we believe there is room in the market. Only time, however, will show,” Sel says. With its SGC-250, Sarens has
the largest land-based crane in the world. How much bigger can such cranes get? How much heavier loads can they take? Are we approaching the limits of what can actually be lifted from the ground? Are loads reaching now their practical limits, in terms of weight? Have we reached the point where even greater capacity cranes are simply impractical or not economic – or where ultra-heavy loads can be moved by other means – e.g skidding, jacks, or in several smaller modular pieces?
40 CRANES TODAY
“Loads are still increasing,”
says Sel. “We have not yet reached the practical limits in terms of weight for cranes. However, our industry is constantly evaluating the economic and practical aspects of developing even greater capacity cranes. Alternative methods like skidding, jacking, or modularising loads are sometimes more practical, but each method has its own set of challenges and is selected based on project- specific requirements.”
BRIDGE LIFT Neatly exemplifying this was the heavy lift and move of a bridge in Germany carried out by German heavy lift contractor Autokrane Schares. The company recently purchased an Enerpac JS-250 jack-up system and used it in the removal of a section of the Marggraff bridge over the Britzer Verbindungs canal in Berlin. The move was challenging due
to space restrictions. The bridge was built in 1965. It consists of three sections, adjacent and parallel to each other. Autokrane Schares was
responsible for removing the first section, which was 60 metres long and weighed 1500 tonnes. Overhead power lines, and lack of space at the busy road intersection, meant that a jack-up system was the preferred solution. To position the JS-250 jack-up
tower bases on the narrow canal towpath a section of bridge deck was removed at each end of the bridge and the jack-up bases were lowered onto the path. The header beams followed. Once the jack-ups and header beams were in position further jack-up tower barrels were added from a pontoon. Synchronous lifting of the bridge section was achieved using two interconnected split flow pumps. The bridge deck was removed in three pieces, each 60 metres
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53
