No Rest for Potain Self-Erecting Crane at Work in the Midwest

Enlarge Image Potain HDT 80 self-erecting crane works on the Country Inn and Suites jobsite in St. Charles, Mo.

June 15, 2005 — Since Grau Contracting took delivery of a Potain HDT 80 self-erecting crane in December 2004, the machine hasn't had a day off, according to Jerry and Diane Grau Schierding, owners of the St. Louis-based construction firm, which has been in operation since 1947.

 

Manufactured by the Manitowoc Crane Group, the 13,000-pound crane has been employed on three projects since arriving at Grau • the first of which was on the three-story Country Inn and Suites job, a wood structure being built in the historic St. Charles area of St. Louis. Working for main contractor Blanton Construction Company for eight weeks, the crane was used to set pre-stressed concrete floor slabs, prefab wood wall panels and floor panels, roof trusses, and subcontractors' materials with the heaviest loads reaching 3,500 pounds.

 

From this site, the crane was transported to the Sisters of Mercy convent, also in St Louis, to work on construction of a one-story dormitory. Lawlor Corp. also used the crane for installing wall and floor panels. After six weeks there, the HDT 80 moved again, this time to a five-story condominium job in Grafton, Ill. Here it stayed for eight weeks, performing general material-handling duties under the direction of its owner and main contractor, Grau Contracting. Finally, the crane returned to the Sisters of Mercy project for phase two of the construction where it remains at present.

 

According to Jerry Schierding, self-erecting cranes offer several advantages over other alternatives. “We're finding that construction sites are becoming tighter and more congested every year,” he says. “These self-erecting cranes take up less area and can reach further than other hydraulic material-handling equipment. On the Country Inn project, we had no room on three sides of the building. On the Sisters of Mercy job, there was no access on one side. If we'd used certain types of mobile cranes, they would have to be moved three times in one day to set one floor. Also, when setting wall and floor panels we cannot stop to reposition the crane. On all these jobs, the Potain HDT 80 was able to cover the entire footprint of the building, thanks to its long reach capabilities.”

 

The firm also had to consider capacity when selecting the right equipment for the job. “To reach over the floors with a hydraulic crane, we would have needed a much larger crane,” Schierding adds. “Although this would have given us greater capacity, we wouldn't have utilized it and therefore would have been paying for something we didn't need.”

 

Although it features a footprint of only 15' x 15', the HDT 80 can lift up to 1.49 tons at its maximum jib length of 148 feet. The units have an underhook height of 112 feet, and the jibs have the ability to luff.