All erects wind turbine in four days
14 February 2012
All Erection & Crane Rental helped install one of the largest urban wind towers in North America. The USA-based lifting equipment rental and sales company took just four days to install the 443 foot (135 metre) turbine in Cleveland, Ohio using two Manitowoc cranes.
The turbine was installed outside the headquarters of Lincoln Electric, a supplier to the wind tower industry, at a cost of US$ 5.9 million. The turbine will provide up to 10% of the energy used at Lincoln Electric's manufacturing plant, forecast to save around US$ 500,000 a year in energy costs.
A Manitowoc 16000 crawler crane and a Grove GMK5120B all terrain crane were chosen to erect the 2.5 MW turbine.
The first task was offloading and erecting the four tower sections from their delivery trucks. These sections were lifted and then walked into position using the 16000, with the GMK5120B providing tailing support. Each section weighed approximately 70 US tons (63 tonnes).
With the tower sections installed, the cranes then worked together to install the 99 ton (90 tonne) nacelle and drive train, which was handled in two lifts. Finally, three rotor blades were bolted together at ground level before the entire 64 ton (58 tonne) assembly was carefully lifted into place.
