Potain Igo 50 Assists Workers At Crowded Cambridge Site

A Potain Igo 50 was selected to assist at this crowded job site.

 September 8, 2006 • A Potain Igo 50 self-erecting crane is proving influential in helping a wood frame contractor on a space-constrained job in Cambridge, Mass. The crane is being used to assist in the construction of a 38,000 square-foot multi-unit residential building with a parking structure as its foundation. The building is made of panelized wooden walls, which are fabricated off-site, and then transported to the site for final assembly on the foundation. Once the walls reach the site, they are removed from the trucks, staged, lifted into place, and attached to the structure.

 

The site's urban residential setting initially presented some challenges to the contractor. A working railroad track borders the entire backside of the rectangular corner lot, eliminating the option of placing equipment on that side of the structure. On the other side of the location is a busy street, which the city wants to keep open.

 

Kevin O'Rourke, owner of Peaks USA, the wood frame contractor at the site, said that the unique constraints of this site forced them to think beyond their typical equipment choices.

 

“We were limited in the equipment we could use to lift and set panels,” he said. “So we had to think creatively. That's why we decided to rent the Potain Igo 50 from our local Potain dealer, Shawmut Equipment.”

 

Previous experience with self-erecting cranes gave Peaks ample confidence to specify the Igo 50, as he knew it would be well suited for this job. The Igo 50's 76-foot height under hook and 131-foot operating hook radius, gave workers access to the far corners of the structure without having to use rough-terrain forklifts on an already crowded site.

 

The radio remote control feature of the Igo 50 allowed the operator to stay with the panels while picking from the staging area and setting them for the carpenters, which was an excellent benefit, O'Rourke said.  “This makes for a much safer jobsite, because the crane operator can always be talking with the workers on the structure,” he said.

 

Kevin O'Connell, self-erecting crane product manager at Shawmut Equipment, said that the Igo 50's very small footprint was a big asset on the job.

 

“Because the Igo 50 only requires a 20-foot diameter area to set up, the Peaks crew was actually able to erect the crane between the foundation of the building and the sidewalk • blocking neither the street nor sidewalk,” O'Connell said.