ESTA Awards 2009 preview

Anticipation is mounting for the ESTA Awards of Excellence 2009 ceremony, which will provide the usual exhilarating mix of lifting and heavy transport projects.

Five of the world's top crane manufacturers have committed to sponsoring the 2009 ESTA Awards of Excellence event in Paris on 23 April.

Liebherr took the sole gold sponsorship slot, while silver packages were booked by Kobelco, Manitowoc, Tadano and Terex.

The awards are presented during ESTA's annual dinner - described by its supporters as "the largest crane and heavy haulage party in Europe."

The event is organised by ESTA in partnership with International Cranes and Specialized Transport magazine and its publisher the KHL Group.

ESTA - the European Association of Heavy Haulage, Transport and Mobile Cranes - is the pan-European association for national trade associations representing mobile crane rental, heavy haulage and abnormal load transport companies.

The awards dinner has become a major annual event both for users and manufacturers in transport and mobile cranes. This year it takes place in Paris on 23 April during the Intermat exhibition in Paris, at the Hilton Charles de Gaulle Hotel.

The awards aim to celebrate the success of member companies during the previous year and to promote best practice and innovation. It is also an opportunity for guests from around Europe the chance to meet old friends and make new contacts.

Winners

Awards categories include the Crane Jobs of the Year, Transport Jobs of the Year, and the Personality of the Year. Additional awards will be presented for safety, innovation and development.

Last year's event took place in Amsterdam in June in front of 400 industry leaders and their guests, with Christian-Jacques Vernazza, ESTA president, and Gino Koster, secretary, acting as masters of ceremony.

Winner of the Transport Job of the Year under 100 tonnes category was TLW Transports Leclerc, while Transport Job of the Year above 100 tonnes went to Mammoet Holdings in the Netherlands which moved an 820 tonne, 750-year-old church 12 km by road in Germany.

First prize for Crane Job of The Year over 100 tonnes went to BMS in Denmark for the installation of a 193 tonne pedestrian bridge in Copenhagen. The winner of Crane Job of the Year under 100 tonnes was Mediaco Levage in France.

Innovation of the Year prize was awarded to Peinemann Kranen in the Netherlands for its self-supporting and remote controlled hydraulic Bundle Lifter device.

Terex Demag in Germany was the recipient of the Development of the Year award for the 3,200 tonne capacity pick and carry CC 8800-1 Twin lattice boom crawler crane. Leo Spierings of Spierings Kranen BV picked up the Personality of the Year award.