February 27 - Specialised transportation and installation company SWTrans has used a Manitowoc 18000 crawler crane to lift ten large absorbers at a gas processing plant in southwest Russia.
The crane was transported by road over 5,000 km from a previous project to the Kazachya plant in Anapa, in order to install the huge absorbers, each of which weighed up to 230 tonnes and measured 22 m high by 6 m wide.
Assembled with a 42 m boom, the 18000 was manoeuvred into position to offload the absorbers from trailers as the trucks arrived at the plant, before moving each unit into place.
Despite freezing conditions and the sheer size of the absorbers, the Manitowoc crane successfully completed the job, explained Egorov Roman Valerievich, heavy equipment engineer at SWTrans.
"With a piece of advanced machinery such as this crane available to customers, SWTrans can transport and install even the largest loads, allowing us to meet the growing demand for oversized transport and assembly in Russia," said Valerievich.
The Manitowoc 18000 offers a 600-tonne capacity and up to 98 m reach on its main boom. Its capacity can be increased to 750 tonnes with the MAX-ER attachment, while its reach can be extended to almost 160 m with the luffing jib.
The work at Kazachya gas processing plant was part of the Southern Corridor project, which aims to supply gas to the region, as well as ensure the supply of gas to central and southern regions of Russia.
