Posted inPMV

Liebherr relocates cathedral-top tower crane

Spanish operator uses Liebherr LTM 1500-8.1 telescopic crane to relocate a construction crane using a 70m-high luffing jib

Liebherr relocates cathedral-top tower crane
Liebherr relocates cathedral-top tower crane

Spanish crane contractor Grúas Rigar tackled a difficult crane job at the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, where one of its largest telescopic cranes, a Liebherr LTM 1500-8.1 has to be used to relocated one of three tower massive tower cranes on the project.

Work was started on the construction of the Roman Catholic basilica, Sagrada Familia, in Barcelona in 1882, but the structure, designed by Antoni Gaudi, has still not been completed.

The plan is to finish construction in 2026 to mark the 100th anniversary of Gaudi’s death. At that point the Sagrada Familia will be 172.5m high – more than eleven metres higher than the current highest church tower in the world, Ulm Minster.

The Rigar team had to operate on a site with very little room for manoeuvre for the eight-axle mobile crane and its accessories, and using 165 tonnes of ballast and a 70m-high luffing jib, dismantled the construction crane and later reassembled it at a different location.