LCR Group’s AC1000-9 passes first test lift with flying colours.
Within a few days of taking delivery of its brand new Demag AC1000-9, the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, LCR Group were putting it to the test on its inaugural lift.
The lift involved the removal of two cross beams from a gantry crane which had been working on one of the Queensland Government’s major infrastructure projects in Brisbane.
Scott Smith, the South-East Queensland Operations Manager for LCR Group, takes up the story.“By deploying the AC 1000-9 we enabled the client leave the site as it was and there was no need to relocate key infrastructure to make room for the crane. Because we had so much capacity and reach, we were able to sit the crane back at a further distance without interrupting the site. This meant the client incurred less cost in terms of disruption, set up and crane pad preparation,” said Smith.
The AC1000-9 was operating well within its capabilities and LCR Group were really happy with the performance of the crane says Smith.
“The crane was operating at 82 percent of its chart The weight of each lift was 42t (with a Safe Working Load of 51t) and we were operating at a radius 38m. We had 50m of Main Boom, Superlifter and 228t of counterweight,” he said.
“We found both the mobilisation and demobilisation were far more efficient than other cranes in the market which could achieve the required safe working load. Prior to the arrival of the 1200t class crane to the QLD market, our client would have required a large crawler for this job with a capacity in excess of 400t.”
“The alternate option would have required substantially more auxiliary trailers and set up time to complete what ended up being a relatively quick lift. All of this would have added to the client’s costs”.
“With the AC1000-9, we were able to mobilise the night before, and demobilise the night after the lift. If we were utilising a crawler crane for the lift, we would have been looking at two or three days either side of this timing. In the end, the lifts probably took four to five hours to complete,” said Smith.
“The purchase AC1000-9 further compliments LCR Groups current heavy lift fleet. It has the potential to change how clients view their lift and shift options. With this inaugural lift, we were able to demonstrate the efficiencies and advantages that a mobile crane of this class brings in comparison to a more traditional option such as a large capacity crawler. Market demands are changing and LCR Group continues to evolve its business and fleet to meet these demands,” said Smith.