DS boom unveiled early

UK: International heavy lifting and transport specialist Mammoet has surprised the market by showing its PTC I fitted with the new Double Stacked (DS) boom that was announced late last year in our sister publication, International Cranes and Specialized Transport. The crane underwent extensive testing in late February.

Commenting on the rapid progress from drawing board to reality, a Mammoet spokesman said, “Current market developments called for some swift action to meet client requests.”

The first PTC-DS was due to start working at an undisclosed location in the UK as ACT went to press. Technicians from Mammoet and Huisman-Itrec conducted the testing on the machine with the client. Independent international surveyors from Lloyds and TüV witnessed the process. The tests included 121 m (396 feet) and 79 m (259 feet) of DS main boom, runner and 600 and 1,600 tonne (661 and 1,763 ton) capacity boom heads. Overload tests (125%) were performed, for example, lifting 278 tonnes (306 tons) on the 600 tonne (660 ton) head installed on the 121 m boom (396 feet) at 104 m (341 feet) radius. Maximum test lifting (125%) reached 2,000 tonnes (2,204 tons) on the 1,600 tonne (1,763 ton) head installed on the 79 m (259 feet) boom at 17.6 m (57 feet) radius.

Last November Mammoet announced, as part of an extensive investment program, its intention to add a fourth PTC to its heavy lift fleet later this year. The new PTC will have the DS boom, which will increase its lifting capacity by between 15 and 35% over the conventional single boom PTCs.