Construction over Chicago River Requires Potain Tower Crane
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May 27, 2015 - Along Chicago's riverfront, the 50-story Wolf Point West apartment tower construction project required extensive planning, as much of the building's framework needed to be lifted and placed over the river. A Potain MD 485 B M20 tower crane arrived on site last summer to help with the construction.
A joint venture that includes Chicago, Illinois-based McHugh Construction Co. and Clark Construction Group – Chicago, LLC. – is in charge of the construction. According to Patrick McGarvey, project manager for McHugh, the MD 485 B was needed for its reach and capacity. “The reach of the MD 485 B M20’s 262.5 ft jib was needed for the challenging task of laying the formwork out over the water,” he added.
The 22-ton capacity tower crane was tasked with lifting a variety of materials, such as 50 ft steel columns, table forms, large air handlers, cooling towers, chillers, boilers, and steel stairs. Some of the lifts weighed up to 13.5 tons.
The Wolf Point West project is on a fast-track timetable, with a new floor being added every three days. The MD 485 B M20’s Optima controls and four-part line were featured noted as helping to keep the project on pace.
McGarvey explained: “We had heavy steel columns that needed to be moved from the truck to the laydown yard, and then placed on the river walk. The crane was critical to getting the steel structure into place.”
McHugh Construction rented the MD485 from Central Contractors Service, part of the ALL Family of Companies.
