Panchsil Realty, a developer of luxury properties, is using two Liebherr climbing tower cranes on an apartment scheme in Pune designed by Phillippe Stark.
The two Liebherr 71 EC-B 5 FR.tronic Flat Top cranes have been used on the yoopune scheme – a collaboration between design company yoo and Panchsil.
The project is Panchsil’s first in India. It will consist of 228 “yoo inspired by Starck”-branded apartments spread over six, 22-storey towers.
The towers are in two facing blocks and overlook five acres of rainforest.
Liebherr’s tower cranes are in two separate facing blocks, with one crane placed in the central lift shaft of each block, climbing internally as the building progresses. The towers are being built by Panchsil’s own internal construction division, who took delivery of the cranes in December last year. Both blocks topped out by mid-June.
“The cranes are not resting on the ground, but on the slab,” said project executer Rahul Chougule. “We started off with the cranes resting on the first slab, supported by beams, and have extended them upwards as the buildings grew.”
The 71 EC-B5 is a 5 t crane that has a maximum hook height of 41.5m and a standard jib length of 50m. Final hook height on this project will be close to 100m.
“We have had to erect one of the cranes with a short jib of only 20m, as there is a power line that runs close to one of the blocks,” he adds. “The other crane has the standard 50m jib.
“We found, however, that the difference in jib length did not make an appreciable difference to the construction cycle. The materials had to be ferried by hand around the floor area to a greater degree than with the 50m jib, of course, but in practice we were lifting heavier loads.
The entire building is constructed from cast in situ concrete, with an RCC frame and floor slabs. Mr Rahul says that each floor has taken 10-15 days to complete.
Liebherr’s director of sales & service for tower cranes, David Griffin, said the firm was pleased to be working on the scheme, which is scheduled to complete in 2014.
“Progress on the project has been very smooth taking just six months to go from ground level to topping out.”
