In St. Petersburg, Fla., recently, two Grove cranes were central to a smooth barge offload at an industrial facility.
The two Grove cranes belong to Crane Rental Corp. based in Orlando, Fla. Crane Rental Corp. is a family-owned business that started out in 1960. It owns a number of Grove mobile cranes and Manitowoc crawler cranes in its extensive fleet.
The two cranes on the project were an RT875E rough-terrain crane and a GMK5240 (known as the GMK5200 outside the United States). The RT875E is a 75-ton crane with a four-section 128-foot main boom. Tip height can reach 232 feet with the addition of jib sections. The GMK5240 has a rating of 240 tons. It has a main boom that can extend to 197 feet while extensions offer increased reach of up to 125 feet. The crane can accommodate up to 154,300 pounds of counterweight.
The GMK5240's role on the job was to ensure the barge remained stable while two 500,000-pound generators were unloaded. The RT875E provided equipment for the ballast crew on the barge including welding equipment and water pumps. It also placed Crane Rental Corp.'s 40-foot barge ramp between the barge and the edge of the dock.
Jeff Fisher, project manager at Crane Rental Corp., said each Grove crane had a specific task and both performed well.
"We used the Grove GMK5240 as a deadman to steady the barge during the offload while the RT875E loaded equipment for the ballast crew," he said. "Moving any heavy load from water to land requires close control and detailed planning. Our Grove cranes performed very well and gave us the precision control we needed. Our crew was well-briefed ahead of the job and their focus on safety and correct procedures ensured the job ran smoothly."
The unloading process took less than a day to complete.
