CRANECRITIQUECORNER
Guam’s Work Horses This month’s topic:
Different Types of Cranes on Guam
by: Dave Barnhouse
A monthly crane and rigging informative column for all personnel directly or indirectly involved with crane safety. Each month we will attempt to explain a different technical issue pertaining to crane operations here on Guam, addressing the sometimes over-looked or misunderstood topics by management and operators alike. Though the anticipated military buildup has yet to arrive, there is almost every conceivable type of crane here on Guam, and always has. The only type of crane we may never see here is the locomotive crane, because of course we have no railroads. Let’s look into the different types that are working on Guam presently. To start, let’s list the types of cranes we can find on Guam. 1) Crawler lattice boom, 2) Truck lattice boom, 3) All Terrain, 4) Rough Terrain, 5) Truck hydraulic boom, 6) Boom truck w/hydraulic boom, 7) Boom truck w/articulating boom, 8) Tower cranes, 9) Gantry cranes, 10) Floating cranes, and one harbor crane. Rubber tired mobile cranes may be a 2 ton hydraulic boom truck up to a GMK 5275, 275 ton All Terrain, owned by Smithbridge Guam, pictured here. GMK is result of Grove, Manitowoc, and Krupp, three very respectful crane manufacturers. The first model number, (5) is the number of axles, and 275 is the rated capacity in tons. With Maxim Crane Works now gone there are now only seven All Terrain cranes on island. Boom trucks are simply an independent crane unit mounted on a commercial truck frame. The largest on island presently being a 38 ton Altec AC38-127, 38 ton capacity with 127 foot of boom. There are approximately 75 boom trucks on island in working condition, a third of these being articulating booms and the rest being hydraulic telescopic booms. Boom truck cranes are not to be confused with truck cranes. A truck crane is built on a specialized carrier, usually many times heavier than a commercial truck and also may have either a telescopic hydraulic boom or a lattice boom. Lattice booms are suspended by pendant lines, are lighter and more often used on long term projects where long boom reach is necessary. The disadvantage of lattice booms are they must be disassembled for transit and reassembled at the job site. Hydraulic booms are simpler to mobilize but usually do not have the reach a lattice boom crane
28 | JUNE2012
of comparable size does. There are close to 25 truck cranes on Guam. This type of crane is gradually being phased out by the All Terrains. Another type of crane that usually is equipped with a lattice boom is the crawler crane, though there is one small Komatsu crawler on island with a hydraulic boom. There are about 20 crawlers on island presently with all but a few working every day. The largest being a 240 ton 4600 Series III owned by International Bridge Corp. These old cranes are real horses and can easily make a full capacity lift, something that is near impossible with a new crane.
275 Ton All Terrain
The popular Rough Terrain crane is easily recognized by its axle configuration. These cranes have four wheels only and are the best choice of hydraulic cranes when a load requires carrying. They also have 4-wheel steering and drive and equipped with large tires making them ideal for rough terrain. There are approximately 30 rough terrain cranes on Guam working today. The most obvious cranes to the casual observer are the tower cranes. There are presently seven tower cranes working on Guam, three of them idle at the Verace Emerald Oceanview Condominium site. Two at the Outrigger Bayview in Tumon, and two at the Naval Hospital site. Other types of cranes are: Floating cranes, which Guam Ship Yard has two of, and the all-important container gantry crane which of course can be found at the Commercial Port. There are presently five working gantry cranes. The 104 ton Liebherr harbor mobile crane may also be found at the Commercial Port.
CONSTRUCTION NEWS BULLETIN
40 Ton Rough Terrain
240 Ton Crawler
www.guamcontractors.org