Throughout a five-week period during May and June, Borger Crane and Rigging Service mobilised two of the largest heavy lift all terrains on the East Coast to complete a series of lifts – helping clients achieve milestones on significant infrastructure projects. Borger Crane’s General Manager Shawn Borger and Heavy Lift Operator Tom Borger explain more.
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“With major in infrastructure projects booming across New South Wales, we have clients with major projects relying on the expertise of Borger Crane Hire and Rigging Service to deliver complex lifts. What we consistently pride ourselves on is our ability to deliver,” said Shawn.
“Over this five-week period, we mobilised and demobilised two heavy lift all terrains, our Liebherr LTM 1750-9.1 and Liebherr LTM 1650-8.1, numerous times to complete lifts on five critical infrastructure projects.”
The race is on
Early May saw the first mobilisation of the Liebherr LTM 1750-9.1 which arrived in Muswellbrook on a Sunday in mid-May, installing 80t bridge girders before being demobilised the following Friday. Once the crane was packed up it then travelled to Coffs Harbour and was set up the following Sunday, ready for the first lift on Monday. Tom Borger was the Operator for the remainder of the lifts.
“It was the first bridge for the Coffs Harbour Bypass that we were involved in. We were lifting nine super tees which were 1.8 metres wide, with heaviest being 76t. We had full 204t counterweight with 38.2 metres of main boom and 24 metres of luffing fly,” he said.
Borger’s then demobilised the LTM 1750 and drove it to Sydney on the Friday. On the following Saturday night, it installed a 117t pedestrian bridge on the Warringah Freeway in North Sydney, the busiest freeway in Australia. “For these lifts we had the LTM 1750 configured with main boom, super lift and full counterweight. The bridge weighed in at 117t in the end,” said Tom.
The LTM 1750 was then demobilised on Sunday and driven to Newcastle’s Rankin Park. Once there it was mobilised and ready on Monday.
“We had to lift nine super tees for the bridges that are going in, each weighed 62t,” said Tom. The LTM 1750 was then demobilised on the Thursday.
With the mobilisation and demobilisation of the LTM 1750 involving 10 semi-trailers, a boom float, crane and escorts, planning must be in depth and detailed, says Shawn.
“There are numerous considerations for our team at Borger Cranes to ensure we deliver on every aspect of these projects. Our Heavy Lift team, led by Adam Little and Nathan Borger, spent four months preparing detailed lift plans and discussing road closures with the client to ensure the requirements we have to complete these projects are feasible. We work closely with clients to ensure all the compliance requirements are met for the program of works.
“These types of projects involve major road shutdowns which have significant implications for Transport New South Wales and numerous permits are required. Our teams work closely with all parties to ensure we are fully compliant on time, fit and ready for work. From an internal point of view, we are very focused on the wellbeing of our staff, and we closely manage the issue of fatigue for our teams, and again, this is managed with detailed planning and communication,” said Shawn.
The fifth bridge lift involved Borger Cranes’ Liebherr LTM 1750-9.1 and LTM 1650-8.1.
“Over the Kings Birthday weekend, we set up two of the biggest all terrains on the East Coast on the busiest road in Australia, the Warringah Freeway, to complete a weekend shut down,” said Tom.
The Liebherr LTM 1750-9.1 and LTM 1650-8.1 were positioned on the Gore Hill Freeway approaching the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Tunnel from Friday June 7 through to Tuesday June 11 to carry out the installation of a pedestrian bridge walkway that weighed up to 120t.
“Over the long weekend we used the LTM 1750 to lift the final piece of the pedestrian bridge which we installed a couple of weekends before. That lift came in at 98t.”
“The ability to mobilise and demobilise the cranes efficiently was critical and with our teams of highly experienced personnel from Sydney and Newcastle, and a fleet of support vehicles including 15 prime movers, we managed to complete the planned works in full, incident-free and ahead of time,” said Tom.
Image: Borger Crane Hire
More about the Liebherr LTM 1650-8.1
A range of lattice boom configurations enables the LTM 1650-8.1 to work efficiently in a wide range of applications.
With a fixed lattice boom from 6m to 62m in length, the telescopic boom can be extended particularly easily and quickly. It is attached at an angle of either 0°, 10°, 20° or 40°.
As an option, the fixed boom can be adjusted between 0° and 38°. The luffing lattice boom with a length of 21m to 91m delivers maximum height, radius and performance. Both lattice booms can be attached to the 54m and the 80m telescopic boom.
High performance normally requires a large ballast radius. But often there is simply not enough space on sites. This means the ballast radius must be as small as possible. Liebherr meets this challenge with its VarioBallast innovation. The LTM 1650-8.1 has adopted the time-tested system, and the ballast radius can be infinitely adjusted using a simple hydraulic slewing mechanism.
The Liebherr eight-axle crane operates with a maximum ballast of 155t. To enhance economy, the ballast plates are compatible with the slabs from the LTM 1350-6.1, LTM 1400-7.1, LTM 1450-8.1, Liebherr’s nine-axle mobile cranes and the LR 1350/1 crawler crane. This means that all large LTM cranes have standard ballast slabs – a massive step forwards in logistics for crane operators.
An eight-cylinder Liebherr diesel engine in the undercarriage, which develops 505kW/687bhp and torque of 3,160Nm, provides the LTM 1650-8.1 with all the power it needs and satisfies Stage V emissions standards.
The power is transferred to the crane axles using the innovative 12-speed ZF TraXon Torque gearbox. A torque converter enhances manoeuvring and starting.
ECOdrive is a new feature. The additional eco mode delivers enhanced drive properties which both save fuel and reduce noise. Meanwhile, hill start aid makes starting on gradients easier.
The intarder, a zero-wear hydrodynamic brake integrated in the gearbox, acts as a retarder. In addition, a Telma eddy current brake is standard.
A mechanical shaft ensures a particularly high efficiency level and low engine speeds in the chassis engine provide sufficient power for crane work.
This ensures the economy of the new concept in terms of fuel consumption. The benefits of not having a separate superstructure engine include reduced maintenance work and lower weight.
The lower weight can be used for load-bearing components, thus increasing the crane’s load capacity. In ECOmode the complete pump drive can be disconnected automatically when the engine is idling and then reconnected by the intelligent controller in a matter of seconds when it is required.
More about the Liebherr LTM 1750-9.1.
The nine axle machine features the very latest mobile crane technology and includes Liebherr innovations such as VarioBase and ECOmode.
With its Y telescopic boom guying and a very wide range of lattice jibs, the LTM 1750-9.1 has many boom systems. These enable it to achieve hoist heights of up to 154m and radii of up to 112m. The luffing lattice jib can be assembled in 3.5m stages up to a total of 91m.
The LTM 1750-9.1 has the ability to become an 800t crane. It has higher lifting capacities across almost the entire working range, and it has greater capacity for wind farm application due to its luffing jib configuration.
The Liebherr LTM 1750-9.1 use of refined static calculation methods means that lifting capacity values have been increased across almost the entire working range.
Liebherr has compiled a luffing jib configuration using existing lattice sections to provide additional capacity increases for wind farm applications. Thanks to the luffing fly jib configuration, the LTM 1750-9.1 has moved into a higher load capacity class in wind farm applications. More than 10 tonnes of additional load capacity can be generated for the mounting of wind turbines on 90 and 100-metre-high towers.
The LTM 1750-9.1 is also much stronger in heavy load lifting, such as the loading of transformers onto ships, with typical working radii of 12-16 metres. The gain in load capacity in such applications is more than seven tonnes.
Shawn believes with this increase in capacity provided by the Liebherr LTM 1750-9.1, Borger Cranes is ready and able to engage with wind farm contractors and the mining industry as well as the traditional infrastructure and construction sectors.
“With this increase in capacity we are well positioned to service the renewable energy industry, especially the wind farm sector which is only going to grow in the future. We are seeing mining equipment constantly increasing in size and capacity and the 750t enables us to work on major mine shutdowns and maintenance projects as well,” he said.
“With the construction sector, and particularly large infrastructure projects, we are seeing everything being manufactured on a much larger scale. This means we are lifting heavier components further and for this type of lift to be completed safely, we need capacity in our fleet. The 750t provides Borger Crane with this capacity and with the 800-tonne upgrade package installed provides us with even more capacity,” said Shawn.