ALE erects highest goliath in Brazil

Heavy lifting and specialized transport company ALE has assembled the highest Goliath gantry crane at the Estaleiro Paraguaçu shipyard near Salvador de Bahia in Brazil.

The gantry crane weighed 3,200 tonnes and was 134 metres high and 142.5 m wide. ALE was contracted to carry out the upending of the fixed leg, upending of the hinged leg and lifting of the main girder.

ALE used nine strand jacks, including five 500 tonne units for guying as wind bracings and four 900 tonne strand jacks for the upending operation. The main girder was lifted using six 900 tonne strand jacks and two crawler cranes configured with 160 m of main boom. It was raised to a height of 16 m. Self propelled modular transporter was used to position the lower trolley. Once in place, the main girder was lowered to allow the lower trolley to be installed and connected.

Frank Janssen, ALE project engineer, said, “The erection of this Goliath crane makes it the highest Goliath crane in Brazil and we are really pleased with the erection and execution of this project. The project was carried out with close contact to the client and main contractor, with the erection of both legs and the main girder kept to tight erection schedules and quality procedures. As a result of this, we feel we have utilised the equipment in a safe and innovative way.”