Potain cranes conquer jobsite with footprint restrictions at downtown Phoenix development

• An MD 485 top-slewing crane and an Igo T 85 A self-erecting crane were strategically positioned to reach the full Haverly Apartments jobsite.
• Both cranes were assembled in tight spaces and needed to offer a small footprint to fit on the jobsite without sacrificing reach. The solution: 
  • An MD 485 with ZX 6830 cross-base — impressive free-standing heights and small 19.7 sq ft footprint without requiring a poured foundation.
  • An Igo T 85 A — Potain self-erecting cranes come standard with a small 22 sq ft installed cross-base and an industry-leading small erection footprint.

Two Potain tower cranes have proved the ideal fit for the tight working spaces available at the Haverly Apartments development site in downtown Phoenix. The cranes, an MD 485 top-slewing and an Igo T 85 A self-erecting crane, were strategically positioned and together able to reach every corner of the jobsite.

The project started with assembling the MD 485 on a cross base with just a few inches to spare in the building’s small courtyard. Even though the crane has a 262-ft jib and 119 ft height under the hook, there was one corner at the jobsite that the MD 485 could not reach. Compass Equipment concluded another crane would be needed to complete the job to maximize jobsite build efficiency.

“The challenge with this missing area was that a second crane would have to fit into a very tight space with a lot of obstacles,” explained Kelly Hadland, CEO at Compass Equipment, which provided the Potain cranes to the project. “For starters, it had to stay below the MD 485’s jib yet be tall enough to clear the building with rigging and have room to place loads. Secondly, its footprint had to stay inside a 25 sq ft area right next to the building, as access to the jobsite for materials and construction had to remain open.”

With such a limited working space, any crane outside the 25 sq ft footprint would have blocked machinery traffic and created a safety hazard. To make matters more challenging, jobsite obstacles were only 45 ft away from where the second crane had to be placed, yet some of the loads would need to be placed within 20 ft of them. According to Hadland, it was critical that the second crane would be able to swing high above these obstacles and have zone restriction to prevent contact with them.

“With all those aspects to consider, I could only think about one solution: The Potain Igo T 85 A self-erecting crane,” Hadland said. “With seven different height-under-hook options, we were able to set the height at a perfect spot that cleared the building and obstacles yet stayed under the larger tower crane, helping to keep productivity high while maintaining the factory’s minimum clearance requirements.”

Potain dream team

The Igo T 85 A required only 22 sq ft of space (it has an 11 ft tail swing). Workers were able to fit the crane into a small space right next to the building. Getting it into the precise location was a challenge the team solved by using its GAPO power unit steerable axle.

“No mobile crane could possibly have worked, and to the best of our knowledge, no other model of self-erecting tower crane could have met all the other criteria,” Hadland concluded. “Self-erecting tower cranes are proving themselves more and more to be a great solution on tight jobsites where a lot of reach is required. In this case, the Potain Igo T 85 A was a match made in heaven.”

The two Potain cranes worked together on the jobsite seamlessly. By combining the large reach of the tower crane with the small footprint of the self-erecting crane, Compass Equipment was able to get “two hooks on the job” to complete the project much more efficiently than if it only had one crane. Potain’s “Top Zone” program restricted the space that the cranes could slew within so they could work in conjunction.

Compass Equipment is supplying the cranes to builder Chasse Building Team. Haverly Apartments is a 323-unit residential complex located in a fast-growing area of the Arizona capital. Once completed, the building will deliver rental residences with ample amenities, such as a pool, gym and parking spaces.
 

American Cranes & Transport contributed to this report.

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Amy Crouse                                                                    
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amy.crouse@manitowoc.com