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CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS
OCTOBER 2016
9
POTAIN PREVAILS OVER VILLAGE WALK
The five cranes strategically positioned
between the high rise buildings at the
Village Walk give an indication of the
sheer extent of another important building
project under way in Sandton, South Africa.
By mid-July 2016, the building contractors
had already tackled approximately 10%
of the works, which comprises a new
commercial and retail development in
Gauteng’s business hub.
Prominent South African property devel-
oper, Eris Property Group, has contracted a
joint venture between Trencon Construction
and Aveng Grinaker-LTA Building to construct
the two new office towers that make up this
development. One of the complexities on
this project is the immense work involved in
building the two large office towers in one
of the busiest areas of Sandton. Together,
both structures have a large footprint of
16 000 m
2
in an excavation that challenged
the geotechnical contractors ahead of the
arrival of the construction JV.
The biggest tower has a footprint of 9 000 m
2
at basement level. Once completed, this
building will comprise seven basements, two
floors of retail space, 13 floors of offices and
a roof structure. It will be occupied by MMI.
This is the second tower to be tackled by the
JV. It flanks the existing Nedbank building, and
calls for the careful planning and coordination
of material handling and lifting activities
considering the tight project schedule. Themain
materials handling tasks are being undertaken
using a Potain MC 125 tower crane.
Ernst Bezuidenhout, Trencon’s senior site
agent, says during the initial stages of the
build, the tower crane had to be erected with
a 30 m jib due to its very close proximity to
the adjacent building. Potain has designed
its tower cranes to accommodate different
combinations of 5 m and 10 m jib sections.
Specifically, the Potain MC 125 can be erect-
ed in a 60 m, 55 m, 50 m, 40 m and 30 m jib
configuration, a major benefit on this partic-
ular project site.
At the end of July, the tower crane was
anchored and jacked to about 54 m, sufficient
height to adequately clear the neighbouring
structures. The crane will be raised five times
over the duration of the contract. The next
jack took place in mid-September when the
crane was raised to a height of 68 m. The
jib was removed using a mobile crane and
extended to 60 m to allow the required reach
for materials handling activities across the
construction site. By August 2017, the crane
will reach its final height of 123 m.
From the outset, the Potain MC 125 has
been servicing the construction requirements
of the main elevator shaft. The tower crane
handles the extensive formwork, concrete
and reinforcement needed to build the
structural elements of the tower. At the
same time, it is tasked with lifting and
placing the 5 t hydraulic boom pump with
its counterweights at the work face. Here,
a preformed steel system, using hydraulic
shutters, that is able to jack two platforms at
a time is being used to build the 13 m by 7 m
elevator shaft, fireman’s lift and fire escape
stairway. Toni Flavio, operations director of
Trencon Construction, says the JV’s supply
chain partners were carefully selected based
on their sound performance in the South
African construction industry. “We look for
an ability to supply us with a top quality
service. This is vital, considering that our
business relationships are based on mutual
trust and performance,” he says.
This is exactly why Trencon Construction
uses SA French for all its tower crane
requirements. The company has been doing
business with the Potain dealer for the past
five years. Flavio says the Potain brand has
always inspired confidence in the company
to build complex high-rise projects. “Building
30-storey structures is a complex activity.
You need to be sure that when you embark
on such a project you have the correct
equipment, as this can make or break a
contract,” he says.
b
The Potain tower
crane is tasked with
the main materials
handling duties for the
structure.
MATERIALS HANDLING NEWS IN BRIEF
Hiab renews loader crane range
Hiab, part of Cargotec, has renewed its
mid-range loader cranes with 24 new or
updated models. The new cranes are, at
their maximum, 300 kg lighter than Hiab’s
previous ones, which means an equal
amount of extra payload for the customer.
“The updated cranes come with
innovative features that make crane
operation simpler, safer and more
productive. Crane Tip Control minimises
the complexity of coordinating the crane
for the operator and Load Stability System
ensures the safe usage of the crane. Semi-
Automatic Folding makes it possible to park
or activate the crane semi-automatically,
which simplifies one of the most difficult
operations when working with a loader
crane,” says Hans E. Ohlsson, director,
Medium Range Loader Cranes, Hiab.
Liebherr A 934 C on show
From its material handlers programme,
Liebherr will showcase the A 934 C Litronic
at Bauma China 2016 next month. It has an
operating weight of approximately 37 t. It
is powered by a Liebherr diesel engine with
turbocharger and charge-air intercooler, which
complies with Tier 3 / Stage IIIA emission
limits. It is of 7 000cc capacity with an engine
output of 150 of 1 800 rpm. The A 934 C
Litronic material handler has a wide support
base with large pads for maximum stability.
Depending on the working equipment,
extremely heavy loads can be raised by up
to 17 m and moved out to the same working
radius. The tried-and-trusted multi-tine
grapples, wood grapples as well as clamshell
grabs are essential tools for every Liebherr
material handler.
New flat-top tower cranes
from Comansa
Tower crane manufacturer Comansa CM,
part of the Linden Comansa group, has
launched a new series of flat-top tower
cranes. The four new models, with
maximum load capacity of 10 and 12 t, are
already available for global markets, while
two more will be arriving soon, before
the end of the year. The new cranes are
models 16CM185 (10t), 16CM185 (12t),
16CM220 (10t) and the 16CM220 (12t),
all with maximum jib length of 65 m. The
16CM260 and 16CM260 will be launched
soon and will come with jib length of
70 m. All the cranes from the CM1600
Series feature flat-top design, frequency
controlled mechanisms, different options
of hoist speeds and the PowerLift system.
The new CM1600 fills the gap between
the CM1100 Series (with max. loads of 6
and 8 t) and the CM2100 Series (up to 25 t
of maximum load capacity).
b