Another 1,600 tonne Demag for MIC

MIC Co Ltd in Japan has taken delivery of a new Demag CC 8800-1 crawler crane, taking its total of this model to four units.

Headquartered in the Aichi Prefecture, MIC’s new 1,600 tonne capacity lattice boom giant, will be put to work on a wide range of infrastructure work sites, including bridges, steelworks and oil refineries, and in the construction of offshore wind power facilities, Demag said. This unit is the first crawler crane delivered to Japan by Demag since it was acquired by Japanese manufacturer Tadano in 2019.

Celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2020, MIC is one of the world’s largest crane operating companies. It is placed 15th in the IC50 ranking of the world’s largest crane fleets (ICST June 2020). Its work includes civil engineering projects and factory construction, as well as large-scale infrastructure projects, for example, elevated road and bridge work.

Eikichi Oyama, MIC chairman, explained how working with large cranes has grown MIC’s business and reduced crews’ operating and construction times, “With cranes of this category, we can increase the amount of work we perform on the ground and reduce the amount we perform at height. This ensures reliability and shortens traffic closures. For instance, in bridge-building projects a large crane makes it possible to use the ‘large-block erection’ method, which is more efficient, leading to shorter construction times. As companies have become more and more cost aware, shorter construction times are hugely beneficial in terms of reducing operating costs and increasing profits. This has caused demand for large cranes to soar and, thanks to the efficiency of our crane fleet, as well as the productivity of our skilled operators, we have received countless orders for large-scale infrastructure work.”

Commenting on his latest acquisition, Oyama added, “The Demag CC 8800-1 provides a top lifting capacity of 1,600 tonnes, yet has a compact design. The Boom Booster kit enhances its lifting capacity, taking the crane to the next level. Also, with its full boom length of 240 metres, it can handle work at extreme height. And, in addition to its capabilities as a crane, disassembly, transportation, and assembly are extremely efficient – in other words: It is an excellent machine.”

MIC ordered its new crane in the company’s eye-catching paint scheme which is redolent of car maker Volkswagen’s Harlequin special edition Polo and Golf models of the 1990s. Oyama said the colour scheme has a strong impact on the public image of construction machinery. In addition to working in the safest and most reliable and efficient way, Oyama said, “we want to freshen up the dull image people have of construction sites. With this in mind, we introduced our own unique colour scheme, which we call ‘Dreamic Color,’ to symbolise the importance of construction machinery in infrastructure development, maintenance and upkeep. In this scheme, red stands for friendliness and solidity, yellow for a sense of adventure and consideration, blue for youth and growth and green for calmness and reliability.”