Massive crane trucks fascinate me...(I've a small life-pics)

[RDMcG]

I was walking my dogs yesterday and came across a crane truck that just seemed to deny the laws of physics. The jib was fully assembled ,lying on the ground, attached to the truck. I always assumed that the jibe were assembled vertically, section by section. I just could not see how they were going to raise the jib. The truck had about eight wheels on each side, and heavy balance weights, each plate weighing 40,000 lbs.,which meant it was carrying 400,000lbs of ballast. Hovwever, the thing was designed to raise its own jib by brute force, and had very sophisticated sensors and cameras so they could get load feedback,wind shear and the rest. It is the sort of thing that brings out the small boy in me,but the engineering was pretty impressive. (As I said, I must have a small life to spend 20 minuted watching this, but I suppose that''s why they have those little viewing holes in the hoardings at construction sites.)

JIB BEGINNING TO LIFT:






TRUCK











JOB DONE...fifteen mins

[GuinnessMK]

Nice

Did you hang around to see what the lift was for, or where it was going?

[RDMcG]

GuinnessMK said:

Nice

Did you hang around to see what the lift was for, or where it was going?

They were loading electrical stuff up to the roof of the building....

Edited by RDMcG on Monday 15th November 16:28

[RDMcG]

The Crack Fox said:

Pah, try 500 tons and mounted on a barge

I'm humbled

[littlebasher]

That's rubbish, you should see how much dirt i can get in my wheelbarrow

[nutcase]

I can beat that. Google "pieter schelte", couple of VLCC's welded together to do platform decommissioning...48,000t

[thinfourth2]

Folk get hugely excited when they see a lambo going past but ignore these massive cranes which are more expensive, more powerful and have way more buttons

[XJR500bhp]

thinfourth2 said:

Folk get hugely excited when they see a lambo going past but ignore these massive cranes which are more expensive, more powerful and have way more buttons

Just like a hot bit of stuff wlaks past wearing a short skirt, and your more interested in the architecture of the nearest building. I however try to encourage her to drop some change and pick it up.

[cheadle hulme]

I love those old houses in the middle of the city.

[Speed addicted]

That's not massive! This is massive!

This is the Heerema Balder. It has two cranes, a 2700t and a 3600t. I worked on this in Rotterdam while they built and installed the J-lay tower (the enormous mast on one side). The barge is 505 feet long to give you an idea of scale.

There were two levels of scaffold in each beam of the towers, they were built lying flat then taken out of the workshop and attached to the barge. This was in 2002 and it's the first time I've actually seen it together.

[John D.]

thinfourth2 said:

Folk get hugely excited when they see a lambo going past but ignore these massive cranes which are more expensive, more powerful and have way more buttons

Sound st and can't go round corners though.

I'm quite fond of cranes too. They always look like giant Tonka toys when we use them on site.

[agent006]

There's a building site near my office, and I can see the crane working from my desk. It's a mobile one but not as big as the OP's, still a good 7 storeys high though. Crane Operator is always a job I've quite fancied having a go at, especially mobile as you're in so many different places, must be a hell of a challenge.