Liebherr crawlers build new 49ers stadium

California, USA-based Bigge Crane and Rigging Co. has supplied four Liebherr LR 1300 crawler cranes for use in the construction of the new Santa Clara Stadium, the future home of the National Football League’s (NFL) San Francisco 49ers.

All four crawler cranes are fitted with a main boom of 47 metres and a luffing jib of 50 m. The cranes will be used to erect 14,000 pieces of steel with a total weight of more than 35,000 tons (31,752 tonnes). The LR 1300 is able to hoist 1300 tonnes of steel beams at a radius of up to 62 m.

All four cranes were delivered and rigged in the same configuration in the same week. They will be operating simultaneously and continuously on the jobsite for approximately five months and will each lift 50 steel sections per day.

The US$ 1.2 billion stadium is a joint venture project of Turner Construction and Devcon Construction. It will be completed in time for the opening day of the 2014 NFL football season.