MODULAR CONSTRUCTION Ӏ SECTOR REPORT
used a 300t capacity mobile
crane to execute a vertical hoist to install a prefabricated metal staircase structure in the Jalan Besut region of Singapore. The staircase is a critical component for the construction of the emergency escape access. The project required detailed planning and precise coordination to safely manoeuvre the structure along the building’s facade. TWC says its team handled the complexities of lifting within confined urban spaces, demonstrating its capability to deliver safe and efficient lifting solutions for essential infrastructure projects. A video of the lift can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=zSZqsZAnEdk Potain cranes are also being used in London, UK, for the construction of 2 Finsbury Avenue (2FA) – a high-rise, mixed-use building located in the heart
of Broadgate. The building will comprise a 21-storey West office tower and 36-story East office tower, reaching to a height of 170m. It’s due to be completed by contractor Sir Robert McAlpine in 2027.
Two Liebherr
towercranes on the NKT Tower 3, Sweden
Although the building itself is not modular its cladding is. It is the result of over two-and-a-half years of design development between the project team and specialist façade contractor Focchi. The cladding comprises 5,688 unitised panels that have been manufactured in Italy and brought to the UK unitised, enabling a higher level of precision and quality control. After being brought onto their
relevant floor via a materials hoist, panels are then lifted into position using a combination of tower cranes on top of the building and spider cranes on the floor plates. The tower cranes being used
at 2FA are three Potain tower cranes (one MR 418 and two MR 225 A models). To fit them within the footprint of the 2FA project, the MR 418 was installed on an elevated platform, and the other two were positioned on the 13th and 15th floors. The lattice steel platform supporting the MR 418 was mounted on vertical legs, which connect directly to the building’s piles, ensuring efficient load transfer.
This whole installation phase
required meticulous planning and specific connection points to attach the cranes to the building as construction advances.
The MR 418 on-site is equipped
with Potain’s Cab-IN personnel elevator, which transports operators or technicians from top to bottom – an essential feature for a 150m tall development. This project marks the company’s first use of these. All cranes arrived on site in early August 2024 and will remain in use until mid-2025.
16 CRANES TODAY
As well as the panelised
façade construction duties the tower cranes are also lifting and positioning heavy loads such as steel components, plus the roof's mechanical, electrical, and plumbing elements. The 24t capacity Potain MR 418 is fitted with 50m of jib from its maximum of 60m. The Potain MR 225 A cranes are 14t capacity cranes working with 45m and 50m of jib from their maximum of 55m. “I would say this is one of the
most complex projects our team has worked on, but developing the solution was a great engineering achievement,” said Jako Van der Walt, lead design engineer at Sir Robert McAlpine. “We received excellent support from Manitowoc Lift Solutions to create the desired crane bases and ensure we could properly tie off to the building where needed."
SLIPFORM SOLUTION The 2FA site also utilised slipform construction – a method of building structures by continuously pouring concrete into a moving formwork that rises vertically. This technique is particularly useful for constructing tall, reinforced concrete structures like towers, chimneys, and bridge pylons where a smooth, monolithic (joint-free) structure is desired. Although it’s different to modular construction it offers many of the same benefits, namely faster construction, improved quality control, reduced on-site labour requirements, less weather dependency, enhanced safety, plus cost efficiencies. The crane employed to
facilitate the slipform construction technique at 2FA was a Raptor 184 built by Artic Crane in Sweden and owned by London-based company City Lifting. It was deployed to feed the slipform process thus avoiding the need for the main tower
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