How to erect a 390D tower crane
I thought i’d put up a photo montage of the erection of our second tower crane in case anyone had ever wondered how it was done – the crane is a 390D self climbing core crane with a 25t lifting capacity. I know it will especially interest all you E&M engineers out there 🙂
- 4 double towers and the slew ring erected first
2. Cab and machine deck crane on top of slew ring
3. A frame is craned into place
4. 45m boom erected in the loading bay completed with the compulsory Multiplex signage, electrical fittings and the monkey. Note the red and white markings in accordance with pan ops regulations (as we will be protruding into the ‘flight zone’ for a period of three months).
5. Cables fitted to secure the boom and prepare for lifting load
Spot the fearless bloke running around the boom!!
6. The final product awaiting commissioning…
All in all this effort took two 2 days to complete over a rather gloomy weekend.
P.S Tom’s addition to my blog following his comment:
Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog 
Jo funnily enough I am now in charge of putting up a 1000E MKII 47m Boom tower crane on Saturday. I am waiting here back about the DCP tests for the mobile crane as I type. Happy days any advice?
Take a book to read. It’s a slow and steady process!! To be fair the crane guys from Favco did pretty much everything. The most technical thing the Multiplex team did was traffic management and a road closure.
Jo,
Interesting, and of course this huge tower needs to be built on pretty solid foundations. On our site we have two types of Crane foundation: 1) Traditional slab/pile cap constructed onto deep load bearing piles. The moment generated at the base as a result of maximum load at the end of the boom and also wind can be significant so ours are designed for this condition and not the basic vertical load. 2) Climbing cranes where the load is transferred through the base of the crane directly into the main concrete core. This allows them to be jumped without need for access to losd bearing piles.
We have just cast a base mast section into position and are waiting for 28 day strength before construicting the rest of the crane (Jo will add a photo for me). The re-bar in this pil cap was realtively straight forward though it took a bit of fixing due to its depth. To be clear the base section is cast into the concrete to maximise stability when operational.
Tom, we have the same set up. The first crane went up in May onto a thick raft set on top of piles. A mobile crane was used for the installation. The second crane is on top of a grillage which transfers the load through four feet into the core walls. It will use hydraulic rams and a shunting beam to climb when required.
Thanks Jo, nice post. Thing that always makes me wonder is getting them back down again from the top of the tower!