Tight to the top
25 April 2008
New Zealand Crane Hire was contracted by Fletcher Construction to supply a lifting solution for its development on top of the Stamford Plaza Hotel in Auckland city.
The project involved the demolition of the existing rooftop area on the 12th floor to enable the construction of another eight floors. Removal of the pool and deck area, plant room and strengthening of the roof needs to be completed before construction can begin.
NZ Crane Hire's solution was to lift two self-erecting tower cranes onto the building for the demolition and strengthening before the construction phase.
“The eight week timeframe to complete the demolition and strengthening work before construction begins meant the best solution was to place two self-erecting tower cranes on the existing plant and pool areas which are already suitably strengthened,” said Cameron McCahill, NZ Crane Hire group general manager.
A Liebherr self erecting TT32 was dismantled into 8 tonne components and then reassembled on the roof using a Grove GMK6220 with 70 tonnes of counterweight and 72 m of boom from the street behind the hotel. Mills Lane is so narrow there was only 50 mm clearance between the counterweights and the building.
The second self-erector, a Potain Igo36, was lifted by the GMK6220 using 66 m of boom and placed in the hotel's emptied rooftop swimming pool from ground level on one of Auckland's busiest streets, Albert Street.
On completion of the rooftop demolition the hotel will re-open and construction of the new floors will begin using two Liebherr 224 tower cranes, which will be erected on the side of the building.
