August 20 - California-based crane rental company Bigge Crane and Rigging has purchased a third Manitowoc 16000 and made it immediately available for hiring. The heavy-boom 16000 is optimised for wind turbine erection.
The first two 16000s are under contract until the end of the year, leading Bigge to purchase the third 16000 to service its growing wind turbine erection business. Each 16000 has a 89 m heavy boom and new 7 m wind jib and is unparalleled when erecting 2.5 MW turbines on 80m and 85m towers, claims Bigge.
Meanwhile, Bigge has made a strategic move into the southern US crane rental market with three new locations at Aiken, South Carolina; Houston, Texas; and Richmond, Virginia.
The Aiken office offers bare crane rental in South Carolina and the entire Gulf Coast region including Florida, Georgia and Alabama. The Richmond location provides heavy lift, heavy transportation and crane rental for the entire Eastern seaboard, especially in servicing the refinery and power industry sectors.
Joe Nelms, Bigge vice president of sales and marketing, said: "Though we have always provided nationwide bare rental, being local to our customers in the South has allowed us to be a lot more competitive with the established firms there. As we are consistently growing, we've found our customers prefer that our fleet is generally newer and better maintained.
