Linden Comansa Crane at Work in a Portuguese Town
CAET XXI, a temporary consortium formed by the Portuguese construction companies Soares da Costa, RRC (Ramalho Rosa Cobetar) and the Spanish FCC, is presently building a viaduct over the Corgo river, in the Portuguese town of Vila Real, with the collaboration of two Linden Comansa tower cranes hired to Ibergru, Linden Comansa's official dealer in the country. This viaduct, one of the longest and highest in Portugal, is a part of the Transmontana Highway, which will soon link the city of Oporto to the Spanish border. The Corgo Viaduct, with a length of 2,795 meters (9,170 ft), a height from the bottom of the valley of 230 meters (754 ft), and a main span of 300 meters (984 ft), will run over three roads and one railway line.
The cranes are currently erected with a height under hook of 168 meters (551 ft), but both of them will soon reach an impressive height of 207 meters (679 ft). The jacking-up of the cranes from the initial height (69.2 m / 227 ft) has been performed by Ibergru, using a hydraulic cage J4-1 in three phases (up to 101m, 132m and 168m / 331, 433 and 551 ft) and, in a few weeks, the last jacking-up will be carried out to reach its final height of 207 meters (679 ft).
The project of tie frames has also been executed by Ibergru. According to the company's Technical Director, António Fonseca, its installation has demanded a strong coordination with the works in progress: "The metal sheets for the ties were set on each pillar by night and during the sliding of the formwork, allowing the sheets to be placed in merely 3 hours."
For Luis Nogueiro, Project Director, "the 21 LC 400 tower cranes are matching the high requirements of this type of project," presenting "minimal downtime periods while executing simultaneous tasks such as the segments of the deck, the mast and the suspension system" and "working 24 hours a day while constructing the pillars with sliding formwork." The cranes started to work on the construction of the viaduct in October 2010, which is planned to be concluded by October 2012. Ibergru has not only rented the cranes but also contributed with its solid experience in large projects and technical consulting, in order to guarantee that the construction works are completed under the best conditions of both efficiency and safety.
