Hutong Yangtze Bridge gets lift from a powerful pair of Potain tower cranes

Chinese contractor Second Harbor Engineering is currently working on the largest project in its history – the 11 km-long Hutong Yangtze Bridge. Once completed, the bridge will become a major connection for the Shanghai-Nantong Railway, one of the country’s most important thoroughfares.

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China Zhongtie Bridge Engineering is handling the lift work for the project and determined that the bridge’s design required a pair of cranes that could reach working heights of at least 100 m, combined with an ability to pick loads of up to 18 t. To serve these needs, the company chose two Potain MC 480 tower cranes, built in China at Manitowoc’s factory in Zhangjiagang.

Huang Hui, mechanical engineering director of the crane division at China Zhongtie Bridge Engineering, said the Potain tower cranes were chosen for their strong track record in bridge building and their ability to work comfortably at extreme heights.

“Potain cranes have proven themselves on many projects like this before and have an unrivaled reputation for reliability and exceptional performance,” he said. “This makes them a perfect fit for the complex Hutong Yangtze Bridge. On site, the cranes are lifting equipment, structural steel, and rebar cages that weigh up to 18 t, and they are working flawlessly.”

The Potain MC 480 provides a 25 t capacity and up to 80 m of reach, capabilities that easily serve the project’s lifting requirements. Also speeding construction are the 100 LVF 63 Optima winches that spool 726 m of wire rope and can lift 18 t loads at up to 20 m/min when rigged in a four-fall configuration.

Both the Potain tower cranes are mounted on platforms that will climb alongside the bridge pylons as they are built. When pylon construction is complete, the platforms will tower 235 m into the air. The cranes themselves will also be continually climbed during the project and will reach final working heights of 100 m, meaning the cranes will be working at total final heights of over 330 m. Both MC 480 cranes have been configured with 45 m jibs for the duration of the project.

“For high-profile construction projects, such as the Hutong Yangtze Bridge, our company always relies on the best tools for the job, and Potain offers the best-performing tower cranes,” Hui said. “This pair of Potain MC 480s has been a great addition to the job site, as their quick line speeds are helping us to keep this enormous project on-time and on-budget.”

Hutong Yangtze Bridge is being constructed as both a highway-railway bridge and double-pylon cable-stayed bridge. Upon completion, it will have a main span of 1,092 m. The cranes arrived on site in December of 2014 and are scheduled to work on the bridge until January 2016.