TopLift 2011 top three announced

The votes have been counted and IC can now reveal the winner and two runners up of its 2011 TopLift competition

It was a close-run contest this year as three entries went head-to-head, with last minute votes separating them by a small margin.

Readers have been sending in their choices since September, when the IC team presented its top 10 lifting jobs of the year selected from issues of the magazine published over the last 12 months.

Jumbo Offshore finally took the top spot in the latter stages of the competition with its major project to install 131 transition pieces at the UK's Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm.

Close behind, in second place, ALE impressed with a complex 1,338 tonne lift using its 190,000 tonne-metre rated AL.SK190. Again, only a small number of votes separated it from third placed equipment user ABF. The USA-based company used its Left Coast Lifter sheer leg crane barge with a 1,700 tonne capacity to place deck sections and falsework for a suspension bridge in San Francisco.

See below for more details on all three lifts.

WINNER

ENTRY 9: Fast forward

EQUIPMENT USER: Jumbo Offshore

LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: 2 x 900 tonne capacity deck mounted cranes

LOCATION: UK

Jumbo installed 131 transition pieces, each weighing up to 300 tonnes, at the Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm. Its DP2 (dynamic positioning) Jumbo Javelin achieved a record-breaking installation speed of more than one a day. It was the first time transition pieces were transported and installed using a free floating vessel on dynamic positioning.

1st RUNNER-UP

ENTRY 10: Refined approach

EQUIPMENT USER: ALE

LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: AL.SK190

LOCATION: USA

ALE's 190,000 tonne-metre rated AL.SK190 was used in a two-stage project that involved lifting 1,338 tonnes at 54 metres outreach. The structure was removed from the top of six coker drums at a height of 100 m at an oil refinery in Port Arthur, Texas. A complete derrick of three drill towers and cutting deck was lifted in one piece with a 12 point pick up.

2ND RUNNER-UP

ENTRY 4: Suspension strength

EQUIPMENT USER: American bridge/Fluor Daniel joint venture (ABF)

LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: Sheerleg crane barge

LOCATION: USA

The 1,700 tonne barge-mounted crane, The Left Coast Lifter, placed deck sections and falsework for a self-anchored suspension bridge (SAS), part of the San Francisco Bay Bridge project. It also lifted the first sections of the 525 foot (160 m) bridge tower, seen here. It was ferried across the Pacific from Shanghai, China.

If you company completes a job over the next eight to 10 months that you think should be entered for next year's TopLift competition, and/or it would make an interesting site report in International Cranes and Specialized Transport magazine, please send the details to the editor alex.dahm@khl.com