Pekkaniska raises Soviet sculpture

Soviet-era sculpture Worker and Collective Farm Woman (1937) has been returned to its historical place at the All-Russia Exhibition Centre in Moscow after five years of restoration.

Early on 28 November the 185 tonne sculpture was lifted on to its new 34.5 m high pedestal using a Liebherr LR 1750 crawler crane from rental company Pekkaniska. The Finnish company took one hour to lift the 21 m tall sculpture into place, bringing the structure to a height of 59 m.

The 750 tonne capacity lattice boom crawler crane was rigged with 63 m of main boom and 23 m of heavy duty jib. More than 600 tonnes of counterweight was used including superlift.

It was brought in especially for the statue job, arriving by sea from Rauma Harbour, Eastern Finland, in Saint Petersburg before the trip to Moscow on a convoy of trucks.

The official launch of Vera Mukhina's restored sculpture is on 1 December 2009.

Izabella Dudnakova contributed to this article.