Liebherr towers on XRL project

Two Liebherr 550 EC-H 20 tower cranes are working on the Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) project.

The project is part of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, a high speed rail network that will run from Hong Kong to the border of China and the cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

Work for the cranes includes lifting concrete linings that weigh 17 tonnes for the underground tunnels down a 40 metre shaft, a company spokesperson said. Other jobs included lowering an EPB tunnel boring machine into one of the tunnels.

The main contractors for the project are Dragages-Bouygues, a Hong Kong joint venture company, and Penta Ocean Construction. Both of the tower cranes were supplied by local distributer Shriro Machinery.

The tower cranes were configured with 51.5 m jibs and 31 m under hook height. Each crane has a capacity of 20 tonnes.

The XRL will be 142 km long and trains leaving the West Kowloon Terminal will be able to reach 200 km/h.