52
SITEREPORT
LIFTING
ACT
DECEMBER2014
John Skelly
explains howAmQuipwon a job at a
power plant in Kansas with their newly purchased
Terex Superlift 3800.
“This cranewasdesignedwith customer
input inmind,withgroundbearing
pressures as oneof the focus areas,” said
JimStrobush, productmanager, crawler
cranesNorthAmerica, TerexCranes. “We
see it as a successwhen adesign feature
like this becomes an advantageon a site
in the realworld. Reducing transportation
costswas also taken into account in
design, specifically for companies like
AmQuipwhich transport across the
country.”
Terex alsodesigned theSuperlift 3800 to
beoperator friendly andwork indifferent
configurations fordifferent picks,making
it aversatile and capablemachine.
“Therewas a lot of engineeringTerexdid
when theydesigned this frame that helps
distribute theweight a lotmore to cut
down thegroundbearingpressure,” said
Butcher. “It’sworkedout verywell so far.
I’d saywe’reprobablyhalfway through,
close to it.We’vebeenvery fortunate.”
Taking an angle
For its second job since the timeof
purchase, theSuperlift 3800was calledon
to remove and replace rustedductwork
along theperimeter of theLaCygneplant.
Thepieces of ductworkvaried inweight
between100,000 and150,000pounds.
The cranepadpresented another
problem, though. Because itwas
built prior to theSuperlift 3800being
assigned the job, itwasn’t the ideal size.
To accommodate thepredetermined
dimensions of thepad,Mazzarese and
AmQuippositioned the craneon the
diagonal.Doing so allowed them to
extend the cranewith a stinger to add
leverage.
“Sowhen Iwant tomake that lift, I jack
downon thisdolly and raise those tires
upoff theground,” explainedMazzarese.
“I rotate those tires so they followme and
then I travel ahead. Then I jackbackdown
and rotate the tires towhere they are in a
radiusmode.”
TheSuperlift 3800was riggedwith a
mainboom lengthof 177.2 feet, a luffing
W
henAmQuippurchased
theTerexSuperlift 3800on
display atConExpo2014 in
LasVegas, theyknew theyweregetting an
impressivepieceofmachinery.
“People come around andwhipout their
phones to takepictures because they’ve
never seen anything this big,” saidMichael
Mazzarese, oneof the twomenoperating
theSuperlift 3800 at theLaCygne
GeneratingStationoutsideKansasCity.
TheLaCygneGeneratingStation is
undergoing an environmental retrofit
project that includes the installationof
twoHitachiwet FGD scrubbers, new
Hamon fabric filters onUnitsOne and
Two, a selective catalytic reduction (SCR)
system, low-NOxburners and anover-fire
air systemonUnitTwo.Upon completion,
theplantwill beoneof the cleanest coal-
firedgeneration stations in the country.
AmQuipbeat out several other
contractors for the rights to theLa
Cygne jobbecause theSuperlift 3800
provided aunique advantage that other
contractors and their cranes couldn’t:
lowgroundbearingpressure.Originally
itwas believed a smaller crawler crane
alreadyon-site couldget the jobdone,
butwhen thenumberswere crunched,
AmQuipdiscovered the cranepad could
onlywithstand2,000psi, anunusually
low figure.AmQuippitched theirnew
TerexSuperlift 3800whichhadmore than
enough capacity and a remarkably low
1,400psi,making it theperfect solution.
“Thatwas key inAmQuipbeing
awarded this project,” saidKurtButcher,
project director andMidwest general
manager ofAmQuip. “Being fully loaded
at a300-foot radius, atmax capacity, itwas
veryminimal groundbearingpressure.”
Itwasnomere coincidence that the
Superlift 3800 fit thebill for the job.
Weighing in,
winning out
The La Cygne Generating Station is located
about 60miles south of Kansas City.
Over amillion pounds of combined
counterweight were required tomake
the lifts.
