Linden Comansa luffing-jib cranes at the top of Bangkok

Two luffing-jib cranes build the residential towers of the Iconsiam project, one of them the highest in Thailand

Next to the Chao Praya River, which runs through the city of Bangkok, Iconsiam is under construction. This is a highly anticipated mixed-use project, featuring two residential towers, which are being built by construction company ITD (Italian-Thai Development PLC). For this project, ITD counted on the support of two luffing-jib cranes from Linden Comansa, supplied by its Thai distributor, Smart (1994) Co. Ltd.

With almost 269 meters in height and 52 floors, the Super Luxury tower "The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok" will be the shortest of the two. On top of it, a luffing-jib crane model LCL165 is working, with a maximum load capacity of 8 tonnes, assembled with internal climbing system. Thanks to this system, the crane is braced to the internal structure of the building, and allows the crane to be climbed easily and safely as the building grows in height. Additionally, it creates an important economic saving, since this crane only needs 6 tower sections instead of 50, that would need if it had been erected externally. The LCL165 is finishing the installation of the crown’s cladding and will be disassembled in the upcoming days.

The second tower, "Magnolias Waterfront Residences", will house "only" luxury apartments (compared to the first), and will become the tallest building in Thailand. Thanks to its 70 floors and the pinnacle that crowns it, this 318 metre building will surpass the MahaNakhon tower. A Linden Comansa LCL190 crane, with 12 tonnes of maximum load, has been working from January 2016 to May 2018, assembled with the external climbing system with a final tower height of 287 meters.

In order to lift and move the loads to such heights without any problem, the LCL165 and LCL190 cranes have had optional hoist cable drums, with capacity for 1,000 and 1,280 meters, respectively.

The construction of both towers has been a challenge for ITD since the beginning, since must meet tight deadlines by contract: 38 months from the first foundation work to the delivery to the client. This pace of work has not only required that cranes work almost 20 hours a day, but also that they do so at high speeds. Therefore, the cranes were equipped with optional high-speed hoisting motors, which greatly shorten the work cycles. Thus, the LCL190 was able to reach speeds of up to 303 meters per minute and the LCL165 can reach 310 meters per minute. Thanks to the rapidity with which the cranes lift the different loads, the "Magnolias Waterfront Residences" tower reached a growth rate of one floor every four days, or seven floors each month.

In addition to supplying the cranes, Smart also carries out the maintenance and service of the cranes.