Allstate Cranes used a 450 t Grove GMK7450 all-terrain crane to place two large roof sections of the Win Stadium in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. The roof is part of a $28.9 million redevelopment project that began in late 2009.
John Van Dyke, director at Allstate Cranes & Plant Hire, said the features of the GMK7450 helped overcome two challenges of the project.
“The lift setup was between a parking garage and an adjacent grassy area,” he said. “Because of the two very different surfaces, we commissioned a detailed geotechnical report to ensure correct positioning. The fact that we could extend the crane’s outriggers in one of two positions helped us stabilize the crane in this awkward spot.
“Our second challenge was assembling the trusses before the lifts and positioning the crane at the proper radius. We worked together with our client Allmen Engineering to ensure all components were laid out in the correct order and bolted together. Then, the crane could pick and place them at the correct radius according to the weight and size of the truss. The GMK7450 was well-suited in capacity for the job, but we needed to position it at different radii in order to handle the loads. The fact that the crane is easily maneuverable was a great help.”
Both truss sections measured 50 m long, 7 m wide and 6 m high. The first weighed 42 t and was positioned at a radius of 24.8 m in a lift operation that lasted two hours. The second weighed 36 t and the GMK7450 lifted it at a radius of 34.5 m. Positioning and pinning the second section took about five hours. For the lifting, Allstate rigged the GMK7450 with 160 t of counterweight, 35.3 m of main boom, 31 m of luffing jib and the Mega Wing Lift attachment.
Allstate currently has 11 Grove mobile cranes in its fleet. In addition to the GMK7450, it owns a GMK5100, GMK5220, GMK5130, three GMK4100 and two GMK3055 all-terrain cranes. It also has two Grove RT760 rough-terrain cranes. The company was established in 2003 and is headed by John Van Dyke and Claude Provenzale.
Claude Provenzale, director at Allstate Cranes & Plant Hire, said his company has been committed to Grove for many years.
“We first bought a GMK5100, which is still the strongest 100 t crane around. We also bought a GMK3055, which has a great load chart and is extremely compact,” he said. “We like Grove cranes for many reasons, but mostly because of their strength.
“We also like the service we get from Manitowoc here in Australia, which started when the company assigned David Greentree as our sales manager. We’ve always had a great relationship with him and the team, and overall, it’s helped us to grow. And with David retiring and his activity transitioning to Jason Pearce, we’re expecting that relationship to continue. We’ve had good support from Peter Panagiotopoulos and the rest of the Manitowoc Finance team, and they were integral in helping us purchase the GMK7450.”