Eight Potain cranes build Fujian’s largest financial complex

Over a period of just one month, eight Potain tower cranes were installed on the development of Haixi Jinggu Square, which will become the largest financial complex in Xiamen, Fujian Province, China. The 430,000 m2 site will include a hotel, office space and a commercial center, valued at a total investment cost of approximately RMB3 billion (US$500 million).

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The cranes for this high-profile project were supplied by three local rental companies to serve the needs of main contractor China Construction. Xiamen Jiang Han Machinery Company provided four new MCT 205 topless tower cranes, which arrived directly at the job site from Manitowoc’s factory in Zhangjiagang. Xiamen Xiaoxin Crane Rental Company supplied three Potain MC 125 units, while Xiamen Yuda has a Potain MC 310 K12 tower crane on the project.

Installation of all eight cranes was completed in April, including setting all foundations for the bases. Despite the large job site, much of the building work requires the cranes to overlap, so having four topless cranes meant that overall working heights could be lower, In addition, Potain’s quick connection pins plus the modular design of the cranes means assembly times can be dramatically reduced, maximizing productivity for contractors. The cranes will remain on the project for 24 months and will be lifting building materials up to heights of 180 m.

“Haixi Jinggu Square will be a state-of-the-art financial hub and we are delighted to supply the lifting equipment to support the construction of this major project,” explains Zhao Jianfang, general manager of Xiamen Jiang Han Machinery. “Potain cranes are popular with our customers because they offer reliability and high capacities. For this project, the eight cranes needed to be set up quickly and we were very impressed with the support we received from Manitowoc to design the foundation, supervise installation and inspect the cranes once set up. This helped us to meet our deadline.”

The 10 t capacity MCT 205 was introduced to the Potain product line at the end of 2014. The crane offers a maximum radius of 65 m and a tip capacity of 1.75 t. It is quick and easy to erect with the heaviest group of components weighing just 7.9 t and the full jib can be placed in a single lift. Its topless design makes it ideal for busy construction sites, such as Haixi Jinggu Square, because taller cranes can overlap lower ones with less height difference than would be required with traditional tower cranes. Of the four MCT 205 cranes on site, two are configured to reach a maximum height of 180 m, one will reach 100 m and the other will reach 70 m.

The 6 t capacity MC 125 offers a maximum jib length of 60 m and a maximum tip capacity of 1.15 t. For the MC 310 K12, maximum capacity is 12 t while the maximum radius is 70 m and tip capacity is 3.2 t. Like the MCT 205, the MC 125 and MC 310 K12 are from Potain’s Asia Range, and are manufactured at the Zhangjiagang factory in Jiangsu province, 900 km north of Fujian.

“We have been very pleased with the performance of the Potain cranes we have in our fleet and we plan to buy another 10 MCT 205 units this year,” explains Zhao.

The Haixi Jinggu Square financial complex is designed to represent a bamboo slip – a long, narrow strip of wood used in ancient Chinese literature to carry a single column of brush-written Chinese characters. Made up of four towers, reaching up to 46 stories, there will be two financial trading halls covering an area of 1,000 m2, hosting wealth management and financial companies.