High & heavy

Using a Manitowoc 2250 lattice boom crawler crane with a Max-er 2000, Crane Rental Corp. (CRC) devised a complicated but efficient rigging configuration to lift and place a 539,000-pound generator atop a 36-foot high tower at a power plant near Tampa, FL.

S&B Engineers bare rented the crane as well as the truck and trailer system to move the generator from its storage location about a quarter of a mile away from where it would be installed at the Progress Energy-owned power plant, which is undergoing expansion with the addition of four new generators.

The 1998 model 2250 was configured with 160 feet of main boom, 20 parts of line and the Max-er 2000 wagon loaded with maximum counterweight of 462,000 pounds. After adding up all the deductions, the gross load came out to be 556,974 pounds, requiring 95% of the crane's load chart at a 50 foot radius. The silo was lifting using four, 60 foot Twin-Path endless slings.

To transport the generator to the installation site, CRC supplied its 1994 Kenworth KW500B prime mover and two 2002 Goldhofer six-line trailers.