ESTA award winners announced

The winners of this year's ESTA Awards of Excellence were announced during the ESTA users Night and Award Dinner at the Okura Hotel in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on 7 June.

About 350 leading industry professionals attended the event, jointly run by ESTA and KHL Group's International Cranes and Specialized Transport magazine.

One of the winners was Erich Sennebogen, Jr., who picked up the Gino Koster Award - formerly the Personality of the Year Award - in recognition of his contribution to the industry at crane and excavator manufacturer Sennebogen. He received a standing ovation during his heartfelt speech in which he paid tribute to his father and company founder Erich Sennebogen, who died in March 2011.

See below for a list of all the other winners:

Telescopic cranes, lifting capacity less than 120 tonnes

M. Skak Jensen Specialtransport, Denmark.

For the replacement of a large hydraulic press at the Hydro Aluminium factory in Denmark using a purpose-built Erkin 365 tonne-metre crane, mounted on a special 5-axle Volvo chassis.

Telescopic cranes, lifting capacity more than 120 tonnes

Koninklijke Saan, Netherlands

For the erection of the main steel structure of the EYE Film Museum along the river Ij in downtown Amsterdam. There were no straight forward steel girders to install on this futuristic building.

Lattice boom cranes

Mediaco Maxilift, France

For the assembly and lifting of two mega steel girders each weighing 1,665 tonnes and 200 m long using two 400 tonne crawler cranes and two 600 tonne crawler cranes in a synchronised lift.

Transport

A. Trailer and load under 120 tonnes GCW (gross weight)

August Alborn, Germany.

For transporting a 40 year old UFO-shaped, reinforced plastic house 8m diameter 4 m tall.

Fagioli, Italy

For the transport of a 245 tonne transformer and a 269 tonne generator over land in Italy by sea and river to France, followed by a 157 km road transport.

Combined Techniques

NV de Groote, Belgium

For the handling, manipulation and lifting of both an old and a new 50 tonne cylinder for a hydraulic press placed in the centre of a building in live production with small exits and limited floor area.

Safety

Wagenborg Nedlift, Netherlands

For the development of an 'electronic spirit level' used on double hoisting hook blocks. Maintaining horizontal position of the blocks during hoisting was a challenge.

Innovation end user

Mammoet, Netherlands

For developing the JS500 jacking system. The system includes a base frame with four jacks with a combined capacity of 500 tonnes, 0.5 m steel sections to be inserted from the base and an external hydraulic power pack.

Innovation Manufacturer

Liebherr-Werk Ehingen, Germany

For the development of the LTC 1045-3.1 hydraulic crane with innovative hydraulic extendable cabin. The disadvantage of previous single cabin cranes is limited visibility.

SPMT

Mammoet, Netherlands

For moving a 14,000 tonne integrated production and hotel facility platform from the fabrication hall to an outside yard using 418 axle lines of SPMT. It was the largest deck ever built in the Netherlands.