New mega crane for the FAIR construction project
26.04.2021 |
It can lift loads up to 32 tons, measures more than 67 meters in height and offers a cantilever of up to 80 meters in length: The central tower crane for the south construction area recently assembled on the FAIR construction site is really huge. It serves one of the largest construction projects for research worldwide, the international accelerator center FAIR, which is currently under construction at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt. Currently, further major realization steps are imminent. Following the development of the north construction site with its large SIS100 ring accelerator and the central transfer building, the development of the southern area of the FAIR construction site is now increasingly getting into focus.
The new large tower crane for the southern area was delivered on twelve semitrailers, the installation team consisted of seven men, and the assembly time including preparation on the ground and calibration and adjustment works was two days. The new Potain MDT 809 crane is the largest so-called topless tower crane ever built by POTAIN (Manitowoc group). Tower cranes of this type are already in service on several construction sites in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific, including the reconstruction of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, which was destroyed by a major fire. The tower crane MDT 809 at FAIR is the first to be put into service in Germany.
It will carry out its work there during the next years, lifting large loads that need to be moved on the mega construction site. The special features of the powerful crane — it is one of the largest at the FAIR construction site — include high load capacity and the use of high-performance technology such as very precise driving and remote diagnostics with Crane Control System (CCS). There were also particularities in the assembly by the company STRABAG BMTI. Due to the large unit weights, all components of the tower crane were assembled in the air in individual parts. This assembly process took 7 hours, which is fast for such a large tower crane. The weight of the complete tower crane is 155 tons.
STRABAG BMTI GmbH & Co. KG is a service company within the STRABAG Group responsible for the scheduling, procurement, rental and maintenance of all construction machinery and vehicles. Machines, equipment/plant technology and vehicles from all areas of activity of the Group are managed and supervised.
Founded in 1902, Manitowoc Company Inc. is a crane manufacturer with more than 115 manufacturing, sales and service facilities in 26 countries. The global company is a supplier of crawler cranes (Manitowoc brand), tower cranes (Potain), mobile telescopic cranes (Grove) and truck-mounted cranes (National Crane).
The GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt operates a large accelerator facility for ions that is unique in the world. The best-known results are the discovery of new chemical elements and the development of a new type of cancer therapy. The new international accelerator center FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research), one of the largest research projects worldwide, is currently under construction at GSI. Scientists from all over the world will use the facility for experiments to gain new insights about the building blocks of matter and the evolution of the universe, from the Big Bang to the present. They will also develop new applications in medicine and technology. (BP)
