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EIGHT TEREX® LUFFING JIB TOWER CRANES HELP SELECT PLANT HIRE
BUILD “THE SHARD” – HIGHEST BUILDING IN The EUROPEan Union, LONDON
London, 22nd February 2012 – Select Plant Hire has chosen eight Terex® luffing jib tower cranes to help construct The Shard, London’s latest iconic landmark for Mace Construction Ltd. This comes as part of the spectacular £2 billion London Bridge Quarter regeneration project on the south bank of the river Thames.
Soon to become the tallest building in the EU, the impressive glass-clad tower designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano will dominate the London skyline at a height of 310 meters (1,016 feet). Covering an area of approximately 920,000 sq ft over 87 floors, it will include a five-star hotel, several bars, restaurants, viewing galleries, luxury apartments and offices for approximately 7000 people.
“Our team is proud to be a part of this amazing project that is using the latest technology available in our Tower Crane line. At these breathtaking and incredible heights, our sincere thank you to Select Plant Hire and the operators that put their trust in our products” says Steve Filipov, President of Developing Markets and Strategic Accounts for Terex.
Reporting to Steve Filipov and sharing the experience and forward thinking spirit gained working with her father Ferruccio, Martina Moritsch, Managing Director Terex Tower Cranes explains: “In addition to the proven capabilities of our products, we believe that the success of today’s most challenging projects is based on the balance between excellent products and working closely with our customers.”
Accompanying customers daily is paramount…
Since construction started in March 2009, the eight Terex® CTL luffing jib tower cranes have worked close together around the tower, allowing rapid progress of the construction. The Shard is effectively a perfect example of how the complex designs of modern architecture are increasing the need for customers to rely on specially tailored solutions and expert advice to accompany their projects on a daily basis from planning to finish.
For the Terex Tower Crane Application Engineering team working with its customer Select, visits to the jobsite, regular contact and mutual confidence have been paramount to tackle the Shard’s unique challenges. “One of the most tried and trusted solutions applied in today’s high-rise building sector involves the use of reinforced steel “ties”, to anchor cranes to a building’s core.” says Francesco Valente, Tower Crane Application Engineering Manager, Terex Cranes, Fontanafredda. On mainstream high-rise construction projects, ties are generally of a standard size. However, shaped like a prism, The Shard is very broad at the base, growing substantially much narrower towards the summit. This results in an increasingly wider distance between the cranes’ centerline and the building’s core. Consequently, creating a special solution adapted to the tower’s unusual shape and extreme dimensions was necessary in specific crane configurations beyond a certain height. “Select came up with a really impressive “Mega-tie” system,” says Valente. “Built using 20-meter-long lattice steel structures made by an experienced local UK engineering team, they needed us to cross verify that it could withstand wind forces and the weight of the crane under load safely.”
The first and heaviest crane models used on the project were two Terex CTL 400-24 luffing jib tower cranes configured with 40 (131.2 ft) and 50-meter (164 ft) jib lengths to lift prefabricated concrete and steel components weighing up to 19.5 tonnes Model one was mounted on a steel cantilever grillage erected to a final height of 186 meters. Model two was erected to a final height of 132 meters on reinforced concrete foundations and anchored with a “Mega-tie” at 93 meters.
Verifying crane erection and dismantling processes, checking the “mega tie” system to be anchored to the building’s core and calculating the combined impact of heavy lifting and wind forces have all been part of the wide variety of complex calculations and verifications carried out by the application engineering team on The Shard project.
The highest crane used in the UK lifts final tower pinnacle
Six months from completion, one of the most impressive solutions employed on the jobsite is the use of an 84-meter high Terex CTL 180-16, erected 200 meters above ground level on a gigantic steel framework. The crane has been “jumped” or “climbed” into place and sits at floor 56 to enable work on The Shard’s final spire where it will lift 500 tonnes of steel into place over the coming weeks. The spire itself will form the top 23 floors of the tower starting at viewing gallery level 72 and rise to level 96. It is anticipated that the erection of the spire will entail approximately 100 lifts to raise the large floor and façade elements into place.
Each of the spire’s façade sections can measure up to three floors. Comprised of 800 separate pieces of steel, entire sections will be pre-mounted off-site, then transported to the building to be lifted into place. When fully extended, the Terex CTL 180-16 will sit 317 meters (1,040 ft) above ground level, which represents 7 meters taller than the tower’s estimated highest point, setting the record of the highest crane ever used in the UK.
Lifted by the Terex CTL 180-16, part of the tower’s 56,000 sq meters of low iron content glass panels have already been fitted. Crystal clear, instead of a pale shade of green, the specially manufactured glass provides the iceberg effect that Piano expected.
Even though it is impossible to say how long The Shard will hold the record for the tallest building in the European Union, it will remain one of the most technologically advanced constructions built in its time and the highest ever tower in London. Due to limits set by the Civil Aviation, nothing in London can be built higher.
The eight Terex tower cranes operated by Select Plant Hire on The Shard include one Terex CTL140-8, one Terex CTL180-16, four Terex CTL 260-18, and two Terex CTL400-24 luffing jib tower crane models.
About the Terex® CTL luffing jib crane range
Combining over twenty years experience and the latest in specialist Terex tower crane innovation and technology, Terex CTL luffing jib tower cranes are a popular choice among leading crane companies worldwide. Particularly well-matched to the construction of high-rise buildings on urban jobsites, Terex CTL luffing jib tower cranes are designed to work together in a wide variety of configurations efficiently and safely. The Terex CTL luffing jib tower crane range includes 14 models offering maximum lifting capacities from 8 tonnes to 32 tonnes (8.8 to 35.3 US tons) and maximum jib lengths from 50 to 60 meters (164 to 196.9 ft). All models are available in a broad selection of freestanding heights and versions.
About Select Plant Hire
Established in 1985, Select Plant Hire is part of the Laing O’Rourke group and one of the largest plant hire companies in the UK. Characterized by excellence in the provision of on-site solutions, and the highest safety and environmental standards with people committed to learning and improvement, Select Plant Hire is at the forefront of technological innovation and plant technology backed by a powerful commitment to service quality. Be if for a one-off requirement, or the need to set up a complete site, Select provides “Best in Class” equipment, manufactured to exacting safety and environmental standards. As well as being the largest tower crane provider in the UK, Select is also the distributor of Terex® tower cranes in the UK and Ireland. Wherever the location and whatever the requirement, Select can provide the tower crane most suited to the job. Some of the Terex® tower crane models provided by Select include the popular, highly versatile Terex CTT 331-16, Terex CTL 630-32 which will lift 9 tonnes with a maximum jib length of 60 meters, and the Terex CTT 721-40 capable of lifting 3.4 tonnes at 84m. With 11 depots and tool hire shops across the UK and Ireland, Select has the trained staff ready to help and support customers throughout their projects. More information on Select Plant Hire can be found at www.selectplanthire.com
About Terex
Terex Corporation is a diversified global manufacturer of a broad range of equipment that is focused on delivering reliable, customer-driven solutions for many applications, including the construction, infrastructure, quarrying, mining, shipping, transportation, refining, energy, utility and manufacturing industries. Terex reports in five business segments: Aerial Work Platforms; Construction; Cranes; Material Handling & Port Solutions; and Materials Processing. Terex offers financial products and services to assist in the acquisition of equipment through Terex Financial Services. More information can be found at www.terex.com.
Photos captions:
Shard 1: Terex® CTL400-24 anchored to The Shard’s core by “mega tie” system.
Shard 2: Terex® CTL180-16 anchored with special frames.
Shard 3: Terex® CTL180-16, erected 200 meters above ground level on gigantic steel framework and Terex® CTL260-18 climbed below.
Shard 4: Setting the record of the highest crane ever used in the UK, Terex® CTL180-16 will sit at 317 meters when fully extended.
Shard 5: Five Terex® CTL luffing jib tower cranes at work on The Shard at close quarters.
