Manitowoc’s 18000 Crawler at Job in Gujarat

One of India's largest energy contractors is using a Manitowoc 18,000 in the process of a major expansion of its power plant expansion. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd is using the 18000 as lead crane for construction on the Gujarat State Energy Generation plant, a part of India's initiative to expand its energy infrastructure.

Mr. KJ Prabhu, construction manager for BHEL on the GSEG job said that the company is relying heavily on the 18000's versatility to complete the job. “We put the Manitowoc 18000 on site in January 2009 and have used it for a huge range of tasks, it has erected all the large elements for the expansion, but we also used its excellent boom and luffing jib combination to lift smaller components into places that were difficult to reach."

TIL, Manitowoc's dealer for Grove and Manitowoc cranes in India sold the crane to BHEL. The company bought the crane specifically for this project which is located in Hazira in the Surat area of Gujarat state.

The largest lifts for the Manitowoc 18000 were a 300t gas turbine and a 250t generator with the crane rigged with 48.8m of main boom. In addition, it placed steel columns weighing 14t at a 30m radius. The crane worked with 67.1m of main boom and 30.5m of luffing jib for more remote placing of loads, such as modules weighing up to 13t at heights of up to 30m. In this configuration, it also placed exhaust stack shells at heights of up to 75m.

The Manitowoc Company, Inc. is a multi-industry, capital goods manufacturer with nearly 100 manufacturing, distribution, service, and/or office facilities in 26 countries. It is recognized as one of the world's largest providers of lifting equipment for the global construction industry, including lattice-boom cranes, tower cranes, mobile telescopic cranes, and boom trucks.