Jobsite Logistics Calls for Manitowoc MLC300 Crawler

Enlarge Image Manitowoc MLC300

April 20, 2016 - On the parking garage build at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Mich., Precast Services Inc. employed its first Manitowoc MLC300 crawler crane with the variable position counterweight (VPC). 

“The logistics of the jobsite really drove our choice to use the MLC300 for this project,” said Aaron Vnuk, director of sales and operations for PSI. “We had to lift precast panels and other loads from a truck parked on an access road from outside the footprint of the garage, so we needed a crane with great capacity at a 115 ft. radius.”

The 330-ton MLC300 was set up on a stone road that ran through the middle of where the garage was being constructed. It moved up and down the road from the center of the garage, and with 217 ft. of boom, placed loads to both sides. The crane lifted precast concrete panels, Double Tees, Spandrels and more, with loads weighing up to 35 tons. Most of the lifts rose to some 60 to 70 ft. in the air. Precast Services used a 120-ton Grove GMK5120B to help erect the MLC300.

“Before the MLC300, we would have had to use a larger, 400-ton crane to get the reach and capacity we needed for this project. That would have easily added $100,ooo in cost to the job,” Vnuk said. “This crane also was quicker to set up and tear down. Its counterweights were easier to work with than previous cranes and we were able to use fewer of them. This saved us at least a full day’s time and the cost that would have come with it.”

The project began in October 2015 and wrapped up a few months later in December. The 4-level, 50 ft-tall parking garage will serve as an employee lot for Sparrow Hospital’s cancer center, which is also under construction. The lot’s dimensions measure 200 ft by 400 ft, and it will feature a walkway connector for employees to cross directly into the new center upon its open. Lansing, Michigan-based The Christman Company served as the project’s construction manager.