Big crawler in Indonesia for GTA Construction

Heavy lift specialist contractor PT Guan Teguh Abadi (GTA Construction) used a 1,1350 tonne capacity Liebherr LR 11350 crawler crane to lift an ammonia converter at a fertiliser plant in South Sumatra, Indonesia.

The fertiliser plant, in Palembang, Indonesia, covers 6 hectares and includes plant facilities to produce ammonia. The 1,350 tonne capacity crane was used in tandem with a 550 tonne capacity crane to lift the 787 tonne ammonia converter into position. It took two hours to lift the converter into position.

Supervising the lifting work on site is E Warman, GTA general manager for construction, who said, “The configuration we used for the Liebherr was the maximum of SDB 84 metres in boom length. The main benefit of the LR 11350 for this particular tandem lift was that the counterweight for the super-heavy lift function is easier to adjust than on competitive models. This allowed the lift to be completed more easily as the crane was more manoeuvrable in the confined working conditions of the site, which other than limited space presents no other difficulties.”

The LR 11350 was also used to lift a 607 tonne carbon dioxide absorber at the site. The crawler is expected to perform around 295 lifts, with a combined lifting weight of 13,324 tonnes, a spokesperson said.

Robert Sedgley, GTA adviser, said, “In ordering the new Liebherr, we had recognised the growing trend for super heavy lifts of 1,000 tonnes and above. We had initially looked at a competitive model but discovered that not only was the LR 11350 more compact and easy to transport but, if in future we acquire a Power Boom attachment, it will be able to out lift the higher capacity competitive model.”

The project is contracted by a joint venture consortium with GTA Consortium, an Indonesian specialist engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company and a Japanese specialist EPC main contractor, a spokesperson said.