A Manitowoc 18000 crawler crane is involved in a massive project to transport power plant components through the Erie Canal, Manitowoc said. In September, a team of engineers and local union contractors erected the 660 USt crane, equipped with 120 feet of boom, near the end of a bulkhead on Erie Canal Lock 8. Since then, the crane has been lifting 260 USt generators, 197.5 USt turbines and 142.5 USt rotors onbarges for transport to Albany, N.Y., where the parts are then shipped to power plants around the world.
Lomma Crane & Rigging rented the Manitowoc 18000 to the contracting team. A sales representative for the South Kearney, N.J.-based equipment company said the crawler crane was chosen for its capacity and compact footprint, which enabled contractors to make the lifts from a custom-built crane pad engineered by Lomma to fit on the limited area of the bulkhead.
The crane will continue the lifts into 2017, helping contractors to move equipment through the Mohawk River section of the Erie Canal that would otherwise be immovable by truck or rail.
