A Grove GMK6300L all-terrain crane had a tight squeeze recently at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital.
UK-based crane operator, City Lifting, used the 300-tonne capacity unit to perform a series of lifts at the confined, downtown job site.
In addition to placing five four-tonne air-handling units on the roof of the nine-storey hospital, operators had to contend with a large hole that had been dug in the access road outside the courtyard.
“Cranes and holes do not mix, but the GMK6300L is no ordinary crane,” commented Trevor Jepson, owner of City Lifting.
“In this class, nothing else comes close to it. It has a relatively small footprint and excellent all-wheel steering, which allowed us to manoeuvre the crane into the smallest of spaces with the narrowest of margins.
“It then completed all of the lifts in a single day. This was the crane’s first job, and I’m delighted with it already,” he added.
To get into position, operators used the all-wheel steering system to carefully edge the Grove crane around the job site’s various obstacles. In addition to its all-wheel steering system, the all-terrain unit was selected due to its ability to conduct the lifts without the need to rig a fly jib. All lifts at the Great Ormond Street site were completed using only the main boom.
City Lifting also cited the design of the cab as a major advantage for its operators, and also complemented its design from an aesthetic perspective.
“We want to invest in the best, most up-to-date equipment, and thanks to the GMK6300L’s futuristic cab with advanced features, it also looks the best,” Jepson concluded.
