Two Tadano cranes – AC 1000-9 andAC 500-1 – lift 50-tonne steel structure at cement works in Gujarat.
“It was definitely a job for our mostpowerful all terrain cranes,” reports Sunil Makad, Director of the Indian cranehire company, Steel Carriers. His team was tasked with lifting a 50-meter-long,50-tonne steel structure for a DPC (deep pan conveyor) to a height of60 meters between two silos at a cement works in Gujarat. And, they had toperform the lift at a radius of up to 40 meters. This clearly called for atandem lift, and Steel Carriers chose its AC 1000-9 and its AC 500-1for the job.
The job was part of a project to repaircyclone damage at a cement plant in Gujarat. One part of the conveyor bridgehad been so badly damaged that it had to be completely replaced.
“Obviously, we could have used one ofour big Tadano lattice boom crawler cranes for this job,” explains Makad. “But,in this case, the all terrain cranes proved to be the better option. That’spartly because we could get them to the site quicker, and partly because theywere easier to position in the very limited space available at the site.”
The repair job on such a tightconstruction site posed a unique challenge for Steel Carriers. It took Steel Carriersthree days to transport both cranes and 17 support trucks from its branch inMumbai to the job site in Gujarat.
Once there, the seasoned Steel Carriersteam had both cranes set up and ready for the lift in just two days. They setthe AC 1000-9 up in the HA-SSL configuration using the 100-meter main boomand Sideways Superlift because there was not enough space at the site toassemble a fly jib. They were, on the other hand, able to set the AC 500-1up in the WIHI-SSL configuration.
“The differing crane configurations andthe fact that they have differing lifting capacities made the tandem lift thatmuch more challenging for the operators to execute,” says Makad. But, he alsoknew that he could have complete faith in his operators and their skills. Andhe was right: the two cranes lifted the 50-tonne load to the required 60-meterheight without a hitch, rotated the load by 90 degrees, and set it down in therequired position with surgical precision.
Dreamteam
Despite the challenges and complexitiesinvolved, Steel Carriers needed only a five-man team for this lift: two craneoperators, two assistants, and one site manager. Together, without any outsidehelp, they completed the entire operation – from setting the cranes up toperforming the lift, to dismantling the cranes afterwards – in just 15 days.
“It just goes to show how quickly andefficiently you can get even very difficult jobs done if you have a highly skilledand experienced team and the right cranes,” Makad said. “That’s why, for me,the combination of our people and Tadano cranes always make for the absolutedream team.”