Tel Aviv business complex build

Tel Aviv, Israel-headquartered building construction company Ashtrom Group is using seven Liebherr tower cranes supplied by Top Engineering and Equipment, the Israeli representitive for Liebherr tower cranes. They are being used to help build a high-profile three-tower business complex called LYFE, located in Bnei Brak, east of Tel Aviv.

Seven cranes are already working onsite and there’s potential for three more to join them as the three-year project enters its final phase. The first crane assembly took place at the beginning of December 2018 and the last one is scheduled to be dismantled by the end of 2021.

The highest of the buildings, Tower C, will reach approximately 230 metres with 52 storeys. The smallest tower, Tower A, will reach 160 metres with 34 storeys. Tower B will be 173 metres with 36 storeys.

Each of the A and B towers is served by three 16 tonne capacity external climbing Liebherr 190 HC-L 8/16 Litronic luffing tower cranes that were purchased outright by Ashtrom. At the time of going to press, those cranes were currently working at a freestanding height under hook of 71 metres to 76 metres, but they will reach 186 metres on Tower A and 200 metres on Tower B, with five to eight climbing steps, depending on final heights, and jib lengths ranging from 40 metres to 50 metres.

Tower C, which remains in the final stages of design, requires the site’s seventh Liebherr crane, a top-slewing Liebherr 280 EC-H 16 Litronic, which Ashtrom is renting. It will be principally used to build the tower’s basement and floors for a commercial centre.

A Liebherr 190 HC-L 8/16 Litronic, also from Top Engineering’s fleet will be positioned on the same tower as the 280 EC-H and climb to build the structure of the building; one or two additional 190 HC-L 8/16 Litronic cranes will work at a height under hook of over 200 metres, as the programme reaches its conclusion next year.

Izak Rozenberg, head of tower cranes at Ashtrom, confirmed that the operators are company employees, some of which were trained by Liebherr. The fleet is operational 12 hours per day. “We are very pleased with Liebherr tower cranes and especially with the luffing cranes,” Rozenberg said. “We have very good support from Top Engineering and from Liebherr itself.”

Arik Daskal, of Top Engineering, said, “We defined the cranes’ types and jib lengths, and designed their locations together with Ashtrom’s tower crane department engineers, based on site requirements. During the design and planning phase, the engineering team of Ashtrom and Top Engineering was supported and advised by Liebherr’s Tower Crane Solution department. Besides the creation of project drawings Tower Crane Solutions provides the complete structural calculations for the foundation loading as well as for climbing sequences for all cranes.”

Daskal said that the 190 HC-L 8/16 Litronic cranes, with a maximum radius of 55 metres, deliver high load capacities and hoist speeds, enabling Ashtrom to add speed and efficiency to the construction process.

According to Ashtrom, the LYFE project is designed to maximise the potential of the revitalised Bnei Brak Business Center. The company has even purchased seven floors in Tower A and plans to turn them into its new headquarters.