Space limited in Downtown Milan: Liebherr LTM 1350-6.1 convinces with Y-guying

• Casella Autogrù lifts air conditioning units in Downtown Milan using a LTM 1350-6.1 

• Very limited space and time to make the lifts onto the roof of 18 floor skyscraper

• LTM 1350-6.1 is the first 350t crane with a Y-guying system  

Being involved in supporting activities for the redevelopment project of a skyscraper  complex in downton Milan, Italy, Casella Autogrù choose their Liebherr LTM 1350-6.1  mobile crane to place air conditioning units on the rooftop of a 63 m skyscraper.  Crane operator Claudio Lozza lifted the 12.5 t weights carefully with a radius of 45 m  under a bit of time pressure, as the road traffic had to be cut off for all the activities  period in the sprawling city center.  

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Milan, a lively town in the North of Italy  and famous for its cathedral and shopping malls, is also one of the biggest Italian business  areas. Every day, restructurings and redevelopments are taking place, as the space in the  city center and even the metropolean area is tight and limited. Casella Autogrù was therefore  tasked to take part in the redevelopment of a skyscraper complex in downtown Milan. The  complex consists of seven tower building, mainly used for offices and being closely built  together. Casella was instructed to place the air conditioning units on the roof top of a  18 floor skyscraper, therefore a lifting height of 70 meters was needed. Their choice for the  task was the LTM 1350-6.1. The weight of the single units to be lifted was announced with  12.5 t.  

The main challenge – limited space  

The main challenge was the limitation of space as the lift took place in the Milan city center.  The 350 t crane, installed with the maximum ballast of 100 t, had to be positioned on the  center of the roadway. As the road is quite narrow, the outriggers had to be positioned half on  the road an half on the side walk on two different heights. During the setup and lift, the road  had to be sealed off – therefore time was the second limiting factor on this job.  The new air conditioning units with their 12.5 t had to be lifted to the 63 meter high rooftop  with a radius of 45 meters. Therefore the Y-guying system was needed to support the telescopic boom with the lattice jib attached, a TYVEN configuration. The LTM 1350-6.1 is  the smallest crane featuring a Y-guying system.  

A challenging job for Claudio Lozza  

Arriving first thing in the morning, crane operator Claudio Lozza and his colleagues were  really busy to keep the timings during all the job. About eight hours of preparation and two  hours with loads on the hook, the day was quite demanding for Claudio, as he explained the  job: “The Y-guying system allowed us to benefit from incredible load capacities while  guaranteeing reduced dimensions – this was the crucial point during this job. In a nutshell,  the Liebherr LTM 1350-6.1 mobile crane is flexible, compact and powerful! Using such a  crane for this type of work is really joyful for me." And Claudio is looking forward to the next  jobs: “It’s always challenging to operate in metropolitan areas, no matter if you are in the  open field, in one of the many industrial plants or in the city center – always a question of  timing, traffic and limited space. But with this extraordinary crane, handling gets easy and the  work is fun.”  

Casella Autogrù: 60 years of proud company history  

Casella Autogrù, based in Piacenza (about 60 km from Milan), a strategic location from a  logistical point of view, was founded in 1960. In the early 90ties, the Villa family took over the  management of Casella Autogrù, providing – with commitment, passion and determination –  a decisive push towards new and even more ambitious goals: the mobile crane rental  business started beside the existing activities of transportation, the assembly of prefabricated  structures and the chartering of aerial platforms. The mobile crane fleet was constantly  renewed and shortly after taking over the business, the first Liebherr cranes came in.  Today, being in the market for 60 years, Casella Autogrù operates 31 vehicles, including  cranes, electric cranes, road tractors as well as support vehicles and operates throughout  Italy and Europe. The areas of application are very varied and include, among others, the  construction and maintenance of infrastructure at national level, industrial handling of  machinery and plants in all major production sectors.