Grove GMK7550 Lifts RT Crane on Dam Maintenance Job
March 23, 2012–The first job for Texas Crane Services’ new GMK7550 all-terrain crane was a dam maintenance project in Bastrop County, Texas. The 550-ton crane lifted a Grove RT530E-2 rough-terrain crane onto a barge. The RT-equipped barge then was used to replace stop logs on the dam of the Lake Bastrop reservoir.
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The 4,000-foot long, 85-foot high earth-filled dam is inaccessible to cranes from land, which led San Antonio-based Texas Crane Services to plan the barge approach employing both the all-terrain and rough-terrain cranes.
Sterling Frymire, senior vice president for Texas Crane Services, said the uneven terrain and size of the dam required an innovative solution. “We had a few meetings at the lake to determine how we could get a crane close enough to the dam to move the logs,” he said. “Once we saw it was impossible to reach the dam from land, we decided to use the rough-terrain crane on the barge.”
For the pick, the GMK7550 worked at a 105-foot radius. It was configured with 148-feet of main boom and used 120 tons of counterweight to lift the 30-ton capacity rough-terrain crane.
The GMK 7550 is available with 264,500 lbs of counterweight, all of which was used for this lift. The crane features a hydraulic counterweight installation and removal system, which greatly improves rigging and set-up time.
Once the Grove RT530E-2, was placed on the barge, it was floated across the lake to the section of the dam that needed repair. Positioned next to the dam, the RT530E-2 was able to replace the logs safely and efficiently.
The GMK 7550 is Manitowoc’s largest all-terrain crane and the highest-capacity crane in the Texas Crane Services fleet. The crane features a 197-foot five-section boom and an 82-foot to 259-foot optional luffing jib.
