The BMS Heavy Cranes team in Esbjerg, Denmark is currently performing a major project: the assembly of 106 wind turbine towers for a new offshore wind power park near Borkum.
Work began in December 2023 and will be completed by the end of 2024. Three Liebherr LR 11350 crawler cranes in SDB configuration with 132 m main boom and 42 m derrick, are stationed at the port. Their task is to assemble the elements into a complete tower reaching 110 m high. The fully wired tower is erected on a special platform by the LR 11350, which is being then being lifted by an offshore installation vessel. Four turbines and four towers are taken on each trip.
“We are safe up to a wind speed of 13.5 m per seconds,” stated Lars Thomsen, onsite project manager at BMS Heavy Cranes. In addition to the LICCON system, which constantly monitors the wind, BMS also uses its own app to view the wind data at any time.
“This is very important,” added crane supervisor Michael Leonard. “I keep a close eye on the wind and weather and also coordinate with the installation company Fairwind and the wind turbine manufacturer – we only do the lift when we say together that it will be pulled. A tower element weighing 100 tonnes must under all circumstances not be allowed to start swinging.”
The Liebherr crawler cranes in the 1,400-tonne-class used by BMS are permanently upgraded and ballasted with 400 tonnes on the superstructure. For heavy lifts, an additional 260 tonnes of suspended ballast is added. The lifts are complicated and often have to be carried out on special crane tracks.
