Hirli chairlift construction for Clausen

Swiss crane contractor Clausen used its Liebherr LTR 1060 to help with the construction of a mountain station for the Hirli chairlift in the Alps.

The telescopic crawler crane was required to carry out tasks at the foot of the Matterhorn mountain, working at an altitude of 2,900 metres. The main challenge for the 60 tonne machine was gaining access to the site along hiking paths.

For the first section of the journey, the crawler was transported on a compact low loader to an altitude of 1,900 metres. From there the LTR 1060 had to travel the remaining eight kilometres on its own, a spokesperson said. The final 2 km of the route had a gradient of 45 degrees.

After five hours of travel the LTR 1060 reached the site where it could begin installing a steel structure for the new mountain station. Once the first job had been finished the crane was then required to assemble the drive engine. To do this it had to be driven to the assembly site carrying the 16 tonne engine before it could hoist it into position, a spokesperson explained.

The crawler was on site for three weeks before making the return journey back down the mountain.