The 2017 Top Lift contest

Entries for this year’s IC Top Lift contest include a strong selection of impressive lifts from around the world, all completed in the last 12 months. Readers are asked to pick their favourite lift from our  selection of ten outstanding projects.

To place your vote, please download the voting form here and return it by Friday 10th November. Make your opinion count…

Entry 1 - Record crane lift

Equipment user: ALE

Lifting equipment used: AL.SK350 super heavy lift crane

Location: Brazil

UK-headquartered heavy lifting and transport specialist ALE lifted a module weighing more than 3,000 tonnes for an FPSO (Floating Production, Storage and Offloading) vessel integration project in Brazil. A 5,000 tonne capacity AL.SK350 super heavy lift crane was used to lift the M9 module using 130 metres of boom and a 4,000 tonne capacity winch system at a radius of 86 m. It was rigged in its current biggest configuration, ALE said, with 49 m ballast radius and 4,000 tonnes of ballast. The crane’s maximum load moment rating is 354,000 tonne-metres.

Entry 2 - Perfecting platforms

Equipment user: Fagioli

Lifting equipment used: crawler cranes to 1,488 tonnes capacity, 7,736 ton capacity elevator system, 606 tonne strand jacks

Location: Canada

Lifting the 4,299 ton drilling support module for a petrochem project in Canada was one of several major lifting and moving challenges for Fagioli. Strand jacks and towers were used to raise the Drilling Support Module to 19 feet (5.79 metres) for its positioning onto the elevator system, raising the module to a height of 118 feet (36 metres), ready for skidding onto the utility process module. The DSM was then skidded onto the UPM in one direction and then transversally skidded and jacked down using climbing jacks to its final position within extremely tight tolerances, Fagioli said.

Entry 3 - Intricate lift

Equipment user: Hüffermann Krandienst

Lifting equipment used: Liebherr LTM 1500-8.1 and LTM 1250-5.1 wheeled mobile telescopic cranes

Location: Germany

Crane rental company Hüffermann Krandienst erected a refurbished gas flare at a height of around 100 metres at the ExxonMobil natural gas treatment plant in Grossenkneten. Assembled with a hook height of around 100 metres, the LTM 1500-8.1, working with an LTM 1250-5.1 initially hoisted the 22 m pipe off a low loader. After turning it vertically and fitting several parts to the flare pipe, the 16 tonne load was then hoisted. A critical point was threading the flare pipe through a narrow scaffold frame at a height of around 60 m to get it onto the flange below. The job was then completed by installing the 2.8 tonne flare head.

Entry 4 - Allseas lifting record

Equipment user: Allseas

Lifting equipment used: Pioneering Spirit

Location: North Sea between UK and Norway

Offshore contractor Allseas from the Netherlands used its giant twin-hull vessel Pioneering Spirit for what was claimed as the heaviest single lift ever, to remove Shell UK’s Brent Delta from its three leg concrete base for decommissioning. The platform is 74 metres long x 72 m wide x 130 m tall, including the flare stack. Moving in, connecting the lifting yokes and making the “fast lift” took 12 hours. A heave compensation system was used but the hydraulic lifting operation still had to be quick because of the wave motion.

Entry 5 - Maxim with Dolphins

Equipment user: Maxim Crane Works

Lifting equipment used: Manitowoc crawler models 18000 with Max-Er (x 4) and ML650

Location: USA

Maxim used five Manitowoc crawlers, some lifting in tandem, on the construction of a new Miami Dolphins American football stadium in Florida. The job began with four 660 US ton (600 tonne) 18000s, each with a Max-Er attachment that allows the crane to lift more at a longer radius. With the cranes lifting together in tandem, the heaviest load weighed 800 ton (726 tonnes). Synchronised working speeds and qualified operating engineers were key in securing the project, Maxim said.

Entry 6 - Steil at the dockside

Equipment user: Steil

Lifting equipment used: Demag CC 3800-1

Location: Germany

German crane company Steil chose a 650 tonne capacity lattice boom crawler crane for a project to assemble a pair of dockside cranes at the port of Mannheim. Trier-based Steil, working on behalf of Kranwerke Mannheim, chose one of its seven Terex Superlift 3800, now known as Demag CC 3800-1, crawlers. Steil lifted the 78 metre, 105 tonne main girder onto a pontoon at Speyer Port. The Superlift 3800 lifted the fully assembled 241 tonne beam. It was configured with 54 m of main boom, 50 tonnes of central ballast, 165 tonnes of superstructure counterweight, and a 54 tonne Superlift counterweight. The fully assembled beam was lifted 30 m and then the crane crawled about 15 m carrying the load. At a radius of 16 to 18 m, the crane then lifted to a height of 32 m and turned the load so that it was parallel to the dockside crane’s hinged legs.

Entry 7 - Power tower

Equipment user: Marr Contracting

Lifting equipment used: Favelle Favco M1280D

Location: Australia

A high capacity tower crane was chosen as the best solution for an unusual construction project in Australia that would ordinarily be done using a large crawler crane. The crane had to stand in a field of mirrors and be erected with minimal ground space. It lifted the steam drum, a load weighing more than 100 tonnes, to a height of 116 metres. To do it the crane was erected freestanding on 77 m of tower and then a 64 m boom. Underhook height was 141 m. Tip height was about 146 m.

Entry 8 - Grabbing a wreck

Equipment user: Conquest Offshore

Lifting equipment used: MB-1 heavy lift barge with 1,000 tonne grab

Location: Mexico

Netherlands-based Conquest Offshore said its MB-1 heavy lift barge was the key asset in the largest wreck removal recorded in 2016. It was used to remove the Troll Solution jack-up rig from the seabed 30 metres deep in the Bay of Campeche, Mexico. Salvage operations were led by salvage company Ardent Global. Ardent deployed the Conquest MB-1 crane barge and non-traditional hoisting technologies with a 1,000 tonne hydraulic salvage grab. The six pieces that made up the deck house and the 31 pieces from the vessel’s hull were lifted during the course of 2016.

Entry 9 - Tandem for bridge

Equipment user: Weldex

Lifting equipment used: Liebherr LR 11350 and LR 1750 crawler cranes

Location: United Kingdom

The UK’s largest crawler crane rental company Weldex chose a pair of large Liebherr crawlers lifting in tandem for a bridge project in Manchester. Scotland-based Weldex used the lattice crawlers to position the 560 tonne, 90 metre steel railway bridge at a 51 m radius over the River Irwell. With the bridge assembled using the 750 tonner the LR 11350 was set up, with 72 m of main boom and 42 m derrick boom. It handled most of the weight and positioned one end of the bridge arch on the opposite bank of the river. A gross load of 357 tonnes, out of the 560 total, on the LR 11350 required its derrick radius to be extended from 25 to 30 m. It was in SLDB2 configuration. Before hoisting the bridge over the river, the pair of crawler cranes had to move it in stages 30 m to the bank.

Entry 10 - All in line

Equipment user: Aertssen Kranen

Lifting equipment used: 14 Grove all terrain cranes from 55 to 130 tonnes capacity

Location: Belgium

A line of 14 all terrain cranes from Aertssen Kranen made a spectacular sight on a Belgian pipeline job. The cranes, all Groves, stood side by side as they simultaneously lifted. Each crane lifted a 6.1 tonne section of pipe, the individual sections of which were positioned on their own pontoons, floating in the port. To help make it a smooth operation a team of eight supervisors watched over the lift. The Grove all terrain cranes used were as follows: Seven GMK3055s, three GMK4080s, two GMK5095s and a pair of GMK5130-2s.

The winner will be revealed in the December issue of International Cranes and Specialized Transport magazine.