January 19 - MSG Krandienst has loaded a 200-tonne drive system for a tunnel boring machine from a heavy goods vehicle onto a ship at the German Port of Kehl, relying on the lifting power of two Demag all terrain cranes.
On behalf of Herrenknecht, the MSG team used the Demag AC 500-8 and the Demag AC 700-9 to move the load.
The MSG team determined the best crane configuration for the lift, using a boom length of 25.5 m and a counterweight of 100 tonnes on the AC 700-9 all terrain crane.
The star-shaped outrigger bases, which were extended to a length of 12 m, provided the necessary stability. According to Terex, these bases are designed to attain a high level of stiffness while minimising the amount of deformation that occurs when lifting loads.
For the AC 500-8 all terrain crane, the team used a boom length of 24 m and a counterweight of 140 tonnes and extended the outrigger bases to a length of 9.6 m.
Working together, the AC 500-8 and the AC 700-9 lifted the tunnel boring machine drive system to a height of 3 m.
Reinhard Schmitt, crane operator of the AC 100-9 explained: "It all came down to how our two crane operators were able to work together with utmost accuracy. They had to stay perfectly coordinated in order to ensure that the weight would remain properly distributed between both cranes at all times."
