Potain builds biggest in Scandinavia

A Potain MDT 368 tower crane has been erected 100 metres up the Gothia Towers hotel, Gothenburg, Sweden to help construct the hotel's third tower.

The crane has replaced the Potain MDT 268, which was previously tied to the hotels second tower. The crane had a final working height of 92 m.

The new crane will lift pre-cast concrete, rebar, elevator equipment and glass in loads up to 16 tonnes. Both cranes have been rented from Lambertsson.

Jan Heed, managing director at Lambertsson, Potain’s Swedish distributor, said, “One freestanding crane would not have the capacity to complete the build and the structure’s design could not withstand the stress for a tied-in crane. So we came up with a more creative solution where this solitary tower crane will create the building that it is currently sitting on top of.”

The tower crane has been erected 100 m up the hotel on top of a 100 m tall lift shaft. A crane operator hoist has been installed inside one of the hollow lift shafts to avoid a lengthy climb for the operator.

The project, to be completed by summer 2014, will be the biggest hotel in Scandinavia and among the largest in Europe.