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| Grove helps with earthquake repairs in Chile  Manitowoc's Grove GMK5165-2 was used to remove the main statue from the façade of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago, Chile, which was damaged in an earthquake in February this year. The bronze statue was at risk of falling. Raul Burger, owner of Burger Gruas, a crane rental company in Chile, donated the labor and use of his Grove all-terrain crane for this project. "Chileans will feel the aftermath of the earthquake for quite some time," he said. "Repairing this great national monument is just one sign of recovery, and our company is honored to play a role."Hundreds of onlookers watched as a fire truck hoisted a rigger in a man basket to the roof of the cathedral, where a worker carefully secured and rigged the statue for lifting. It was then lifted slowly down to the bed of nearby truck. For the lift, the crane was configured with 54 m of boom, and the radius was 28 m. The outriggers were fully extended and used substantial cribbing because the crane was positioned over a subway tunnel. Maximum capacity for the crane in this configuration was between 9 t and 10 t, more than enough capacity for the statue that weighed between 3 t and 4 t. Burger said that while the crane was oversized for the project, his company wanted to have complete confidence on the project. "This was such a high-profile project," he said. "We did not want to take any chances with our choice of crane, in either capacity or technology. And we are very happy with how the job went. The crane performed very smoothly." The Grove GMK5165-2 has 13 counterweight configurations that allow both versatility and a maximum capacity of 165 USt. Outside the U.S., the crane is called the GMK5130-2 and has a maximum rated capacity of 130 t. The maximum main boom length is 60 m. The crane also has a bi-fold lattice swingaway jib that extends from 11 m to 18 m, allowing an overall maximum tip height of 81 m. write your comments about the article :: © 2010 Construction News :: home page |