Mortenson erects America’s tallest flagpole

23 June 2014

The flag pole is made up of six sections, the heaviest of which weighs 59 tons (53 tonnes)

The flag pole is made up of six sections, the heaviest of which weighs 59 tons (53 tonnes)

Mortenson Construction, based in Brookfield, Wisconsin, USA, has installed the tallest flagpole in America using a Manitowoc 16000 crawler crane.

The crane was rented from crane rental company Dawes Rigging & Crane rental, a member of the All Erection & Crane Rental group. The project was commissioned by Acuity insurance company.

The flagpole is 121 metres tall and is set in 520 cubic metres of concrete, 3 m deep. The flag is 36 by 18 m and is visible from at least 11 miles (18 km) away, a spokesperson said.

The flag pole is made up of six sections, the heaviest of which weighs 59 US tons (53 tonnes). All together, the structure weighed 210 tons (190 tonnes).

To install the flag pole, the 440 ton (400 tonne) Manitowoc 16000 was configured with 54 m of main boom and 84 m of luffing jib. It was positioned on timber mats to provide additional stability.

Space on site was restricted, with a car park and pond either side of the working space. It took three days to put the flag into position.

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