The Chicago Transit Authority and Kiewit Construction partnered with Lifting Gear Hire to renovate sections of CTA’s El lines.

Lifting Gear Hire Corp., specialists in the rental, sales, service, inspection and testing of lifting and rigging equipment helped Kiewit Construction renovate sections of the Chicago Transit Authority’s El lines.

Instead of completely dismantling and replacing a 100-foot section of a double crossover made of ties, rail and bearing plates, CTA decided with LGH’s equipment they would cut man hours and potential penalties from the CTA dramatically. Kiewit Construction, working with the CTA, set out to modify two 10-ton steel gantries by replacing the casters with wheels made specifically for riding on railroad tracks. They hoisted the 30,000-pound crossover with a 6-point lift just clearing the remaining track and then they coasted it down the rails to get relieved by a crane that was standing nearby, and then replaced the sections immediately with the new track – piece by piece.

“We always say there is no lift too complicated for us,” said LGH general manager Tony Fiscelli. “Our staff and equipment stayed true to that claim with this project.”

Headquartered in Bridgeview, Ill., Lifting Gear Hire Corp. stocks more than 80,000 pieces of lifting equipment available for rental through its worldwide locations, which encompass the United States, Holland and Germany. It is No. 73 on the RER 100.