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Ainscough Crane Hire was commissioned by HTC Wolffkran to remove a tower crane that had been supporting the construction of a 31-storey residential tower block in the Greengate quarter in Salford. The site is located on the outskirts of Manchester city centre and overlooks the River Irwell.
The detailed preparation was required ahead of the lift, with numerous site visits by our team of 45 dedicated contract lift managers, to ensure precise plans were made before the lift. Following comprehensive site surveys, numerous obstacles, such as manhole covers and underground utilities were identified. Total accuracy was required through meticulous planning to complete the job safely.
In March 2016, Ainscough’s Heavy Crane Division sent an all-terrain mobile crane, a Liebherr LTM 1500-8.1, equipped with an 84m luffing fly jib and 165-tonne counterweight to undertake the task. The set up involved a 150-tonne crane, three ballast drivers from the Transport Division and five service vehicles over the course of a 10 hour period.
As a result of the obstacles being identified at the planning stage, larger 5.2m x 2.21m steel mats were used, over the originally intended 3.0m x 2.5m mats, as these were not large enough to distribute the crane’s weight and load safely. The Ainscough team also applied to the local authority for a road closure to ensure the crane could be safely rigged in a safe working distance from the tower crane that was being dismantled.
Over the four day project, which involved two days rigging and de-rigging and two operational days de-rigging the tower crane, there were no reported incidents or accidents.
