The infrastructure sector is witnessing many complex and huge projects that require heavy lifting jobs. In view of this, rough terrain crane manufacturers are coming up with products that have higher lifting capacities and more robust features to work in various jobsite conditions. NBM&CW reports
Demand of rough terrain cranes in India has been generally institutional. However, a fair volume of demand has also been coming from roads, bridges and more recently from metro rail projects. According to industry estimates, demand is likely to firm up during the second quarter, led by the mining sector and expansions in private mines and brownfield industries. Quite expectedly, contractors are looking for cranes that deliver more productivity and, most importantly, ensure greater safety. Customers, including rental agencies and contractors, are also planning to replace their older cranes, and induct new cranes into their fleet, which will give them higher profit margins.
Says Anil Bhatia, Vice President Sales and Marketing - TIL Limited, “We are enhancing our RT cranes business with cranes of higher capacities. Our new RT 880, 80-ton RT crane has a full five-section telescopic boom of 12.1 to 43.8 meters. It is compact and fully maneuverable and is extremely stable with a 4x4 wheel drive. There are options for 10.1m fixed lattice and 17.1m tele lattice resulting in a total extended boom length of almost 61m and a maximum tip height of 63.5 m- enabling the crane to lift loads at a greater height.” He further adds – “The new RT880 comes equipped with a reliable and proven Load Moment Indicator based control system for the crane operations, sophisticated CAN based operator information and interactive system as well as an advanced telematics system.”
He informs that TIL is planning to come up with two new rough terrain cranes of 50 and 60-ton capacities and with a longer boom. Both the cranes are in the prototype stage and will be launched during the next few months. TIL will provide the necessary support to the buyers with maintenance and operator training.
Liebherr, a new entrant in the RT crane business, is positioning its LRT 1090-2.1, 90-ton and LRT 1100-2.1, 100-ton to meet the current demand for higher capacity cranes. Says Subhajit Chandra, Divisional Head, Liebherr Cranes India, “These new generation cranes are built as per the advanced EN 13000, European standard and come with very high safety features. They have hydraulic driven telescopic booms for the extension and contraction of the booms and are very sturdy, as compared to the hydro mechanical booms as their rope pulley mechanism makes them loose and fragile during erection and loading operations.”
He informs that a key feature in the crane is the Variobase mechanism which enables the crane to calculate the load configuration (despite the outriggers placed arbitrarily), allowing launch bridge girder or precast sections on constricted sites, while its Ecomode feature disengages the engine with a press of the clutch when any site preparation has to be done during the course of operations.
