1941
Manitowoc 3900
103.5 tonne
crawler crane
1971
Coles Colossus 6000
225.0 tonne
truck crane
1979
Italgru TGN 5300
300.0 tonne
ring crane
1971
Bohne K10000 (by Demag) 1,000 tonne
truck crane
1982
Gottwald AK 1200
1,200 tonne
crawler crane
1987
Demag CC 12600
2,000 tonne
crawler crane
1995
Lampson LTL-2600
2,600 tonne
crawler crane
2008
Demag CC 8800-Twin
3,200 tonne
crawler crane
2009
Manitowoc 31000
2,300 tonne
crawler crane
2012
Liebherr LR 13000
3,000 tonne
crawler crane
1997
MSG 50 (Mammoet)
3,000 tonne
ring crane
50,000 tonne-metres
2009
AL.SK190 (ALE)
4,300 tonne
ring crane
190,000 tonne-metres
2012
SGC 120 (Sarens)
3,200 tonne
ring crane
120,000 tonne-metres
2012
PTC 200DS (Mammoet)
3,200 tonne
ring crane
200,000 tonne-metres
2011
125D ARFD (Bigge)
7,500 tonne
ring crane
NOTE: This list is not exhaustive.
THE KNOWLEDGE
Cranes, a bit
of history
In the third article in
our new how-to series,
MARCO VAN DAAL
turns his attention from
transport to cranes with
a historical perspective
on developments in the
lifting industry
CRANE CAPACITY OVERVIEW
consisting of two masts (or poles) with a
cross beam (gantry beam), on which the
load was suspended. The other system
was a tilted mast over the load where
luffing the mast enabled positioning of the
load. Later designs added the possibility
of slewing the load. By this time it was
already around the 1400 to 1500 era.
Although they are no less significant,
this article does not cover gantry
type cranes.
In the early 1800s the first commercial
crane-like machines were built. Most had
excavator shovels and were steam powered
because the internal combustion engine
did not make its introduction in the crane
world for another century.
In the first half of the 20th Century the
crane industry evolved relatively slowly.
World War II, however, sparked the
industry and major leaps were achieved.
(See the table opposite).
If this trend is put in a chart we can
see the, more or less, steady incline in
crane capacity from the manufacturers.
In the last two decades, however, a
development is taking place where the
crane owners are taking the lead in a
demand for and manufacturing of higher
capacity machines.
Selection process
The development brought with it a
potential clash in terminology and the
way that crane capacities are interpreted.
Crane capacities are expressed in US
tons or (metric) tonnes. A 500 tonne
crane is bigger and has more capacity
than a 250 tonne crane. They are two
different category machines. Few 250
tonne cranes, however, can actually lift
250 tonnes at a practical radius because
often the outriggers, crawlers or ring is
physically in the way of performing such
a lift. So the question then becomes, if a
250 tonne load is to be lifted at a certain
radius would the crane analysis (selection
of the right equipment) start with the 250
tonne machine or with the bigger 500
tonne machine. This largely depends on
the radius but it can be stated with fair
certainty that the 250 tonne machine will
not be able to perform this lift. Therefore,
as the planner of a lift, one would not
INTERNATIONAL AND SPECIALIZED TRANSPORT
■
SEPTEMBER 2013
35
>
L
ooking at today’s cranes –
computerised complex machines –
it is hard to imagine that they
have been around for two thousand or
more years. It is unknown when the first
crane-like machines were used as no
documentation from that far back has been
found but, looking at certain structures
built by, for example, the Romans and
Greeks have led scientists and archeologists
to believe that some type of lifting
mechanism was used.
Initially two types of lifting device
could be differentiated. One was a system
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
1940
1945
1950
1955
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
CAPACITY
Manufacturers
Owners
