Liebherr tower cranes in action erecting the highest building in Europe

• Construction of the 462 m Lakhta Towers in St. Petersburg

• Ten Liebherr tower cranes in action: seven HC-L and three EC-H models

• Three 710 HC-L cranes, the largest luffing jib crane available from Liebherr, are in action

A total of ten Liebherr tower cranes owned by rental company Sutek are currently in action for contractor Renaissance Construction, erecting the Lakhta Center in St. Petersburg, Russia. The construction project includes what will be the highest building in Europe, the Lakhta Tower, and an adjoining multi-purpose building. Three 710 HC-L 32/64 Litronic and one 357 HC-L 12/24 Litronic luffing jib cranes are being used for the construction work on the tower. Three 357 HC-L 12/24 Litronic luffing jib cranes and three 280 EC-H 12 Litronic High-Top cranes are in action on the multi-purpose building.

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The Lakhta Tower designed by British architects RMJM at a height of 462 m will primarily be home to the head office of energy group Gazprom. It will also provide other office space, sports facilities, a technical park for children, a planetarium, a panoramic restaurant, a viewing terrace and much more on the 330,000 m² site. Currently the core for the first 35 storeys has already been completed.

Particularly powerful large cranes are required for a tower with such an enormous height. The 710 HC-L 32/64 Litronic has a maximum lifting capacity of 64 t, making it the largest luffing jib crane available from Liebherr. All three 710 HC-L cranes are equipped with innovative 2 x 110 kW Dual Drive SD.shift hoist units and 160 kW luffing gear which enables hoist speeds of up to 176 m/min to be achieved. These cranes are all climbing on the outside of the building while the 357 HC-L 12/24 Litronic is climbing inside it. The latter crane features a 110 kW hoist unit.

The three Liebherr 710 HC-L 32/64 Litronic luffing jib cranes are in action with radii of 45 m, 50 m and 60 m. This enables them to cover the site perfectly and build the heavy steel skeleton for the tower. Using the 24 HC 1000 and 24 HC 1250 tower systems the cranes are climbing over 400 m on the outside of the building with one of the luffing jib cranes being responsible for positioning the top of the tower at a tower height of approximately 440 m. The 357 HC-L 12/24 Litronic has been assembled on a 500 HC tower system. This crane is working towards the others and is primarily responsible for concreting the core of the building.

The Lakhta Tower is scheduled to be completed in 2018 when its height of 462 m and 87 storeys will make it the highest building in Europe. That will make it higher, for example, than the Federation Tower in Moscow in whose construction Liebherr also played a leading role. In addition to the performance of the cranes themselves and the good preparation and monitoring of the project by the Tower Crane Solutions Department, this is one of the reasons why contractor Renaissance Construction and rental company Sutek chose Liebherr cranes.

The Lakhta Towers complex will also include a multi-purpose building which will house a planetarium, cinema and theatre among other facilities. Several Liebherr tower cranes are also in action erecting this building. To ensure that the cranes can slew freely even in constricted conditions, three 357 HC-L 12/24 Litronic cranes were combined with three 280 EC-H 12 Litronic High-Top cranes. The customer's requirement was that the cranes should be assembled on the building without guying. This is why Tower Crane Solutions planned tower combinations which make a free-standing height of up to 95 m possible.