Construction has ramped up on Brisbane City Council’s iconic Kangaroo Point Green Bridge project with the arrival of the world’s largest capacity tower crane, the M2480D Heavy Lift Luffing Crane.
Led by multi-disciplinary construction contractor BESIX Watpac, the Connect Brisbane consortium is delivering the world-class landmark. Once complete, the 460-metre-long cable-stay bridge will be one of the longest of its kind in the world.
The bridge comprises several large and heavy steel elements that will be fabricated offsite, and this heavy-lift crane will be critical in completing the exceptionally large lifts.
BESIX Watpac General Manager Queensland, Northern Territory and New Zealand, Wade Cummins, said this was a key milestone for the project.
“The 72-metre-tall crane with a 64-metre-long boom supplied by Marr Contracting arrived on site in January and has been erected and commissioned, and has completed its first lift a 25-metre by 25-metre-wide working platform. This marks a significant step in construction for the BESIX Watpac team as the structure begins to take shape.”
said Wade Cummins BESIX Watpac General Manager Queensland.
The crane has a maximum lift capacity of 330 tonnes – 220 tonnes in its configuration on this project – and will be crucial to constructing some of the bridge’s most impressive elements.
According to BESIX Watpac Project Director, Tim Deere, this includes the bridge’s masthead.
“The crane has been assembled on a marine-based grillage and it will enable the installation of some very large bridge elements. The heaviest lift the tower crane will undertake for the project is 180 tonnes and will be the 28-metre-tall, prefabricated steel masthead.”
said Tim Deere, BESIX Watpac Project Director.
Our in-house engineering team was instrumental in identifying this crane at the tender phase as the preferred lifting solution for the project. After comparing barge-mounted crane and tower crane options, the team confirmed the M2480D was the most suitable crane in the Australian market capable of lifting the fully assembled masthead.
The crane will also be used for substructure and other superstructure works, such as works on the Pier 4 Pylon at the base of the mast.
Earlier this year, we completed the first major concrete pour for the Pier 4 Pylon, which has a high density of reinforcement to manage the massive loads it will be carrying.
To celebrate the arrival of the crane onsite Connect Brisbane, led by BESIX Watpac, is running a ‘Name the Crane’ competition with a local school. Students will be invited to give the crane a name.
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