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| Grove GTK1100 powers up wind project in China  The first Grove GTK1100 crane to arrive in Asia has completed its first jobs, helping to build major wind farm installations in Inner Mongolia, China. The unique, high-telescoping crane was put to the test with a schedule to install 92 wind turbines with tower heights of over 70 m and turbine sections of up to 75 t – all in desert conditions. Zhu Jingcheng, chairman of China Power Equipment Installation Engineering Co. Ltd., (CPIE), which owns the crane, said the GTK1100 was the only choice for the project. "There was no other mobile crane in the world that could handle this job, given the height and working radius required," he said. "The GTK combines a perfect blend of short working radius, tall height and strong capacity that is needed for this type of work."Manitowoc delivered the GTK to CPIE at the end of June 2009, accompanied by two of the company's most experienced service men. The crane's first job was to install two Shengguotongyuan 1.5 MW windmills with 77.5 m towers and turbines weighing 75 t in Ganqika, Inner Mongolia. The GTK then travelled to the Zhurihe CHNG Wind Farm in late October, 100 km from Tong Liao City where CPIE was contracted to install 90 wind turbines in a three-phase program, which was completed at the end of 2009. Phase I of the project, which ran from July to September, involved the GTK1100 and several Grove GMK7450 all-terrain cranes installing 33 wind turbines with capacities of 1.5 MW. An additional 33 windmills of 1.5 MW capacity were installed in Phase II. All these turbines weighed 60 t and had tower heights of 70 m. Phase III, which started in late October, required the installation of 24 windmills with a 2 MW capacity. Zhurihe Wind Farm is situated in an area that used to be a grassland tourist attraction, but is now turning to desert because of drought, soil erosion and water loss. Zhu Jingcheng said transporting the 140m tall crane was a surprisingly easy process, despite the desert conditions. "The main roads are flat, straight and well-prepared, so that wasn't a problem," he said. "But around the windmills' foundations there were piles of loose soil, which means heavier cranes couldn't setup nearby. Because the GTK1100 is relatively lightweight, we didn't have any difficulties with setup. We were also able to drive the GTK1100 with the superstructure attached, reducing our transport convoy, which made things cheaper and faster for us." CPIE is the first company to transport the GTK with its superstructure attached, which reduced the number of trailers for transporting it on site from six to just four. Travelling in this configuration also means a smaller assist crane can be used as the maximum load is 17.5 t for the GTK1100's outriggers. The Grove GTK1100 was designed with a focus on wind power and other tall-height installations. Manitowoc's engineers combined a superstructure from the 450 t capacity GMK7450 all-terrain crane with an 80 m five-section telescoping tower and a hydraulic chassis. Unlike anything else in the crane industry, the GTK1100 lifts loads of up to 95 t to heights of up to 115 m at radii of up to of 11 m. In addition to the GTK, CPIE owns several other Grove all-terrain cranes and has been using them for a range of wind turbine installations. Among the Grove cranes in its fleet are five GMK7450 cranes, one 220 t GMK 6220L and a 300 t GMK6300. write your comments about the article :: © 2010 Construction News :: home page |