Two crane operators from Central Contractors Service executed the meticulous process of picking and setting. First, the rigging crew prepared the girder for the lift. The Liebherr AT, positioned above on the abutment, connected first. Then the crawler, in the median below, picked the back end of the piece. Next, the operators would swing the girder in tandem, then the crawler had to walk up to place the girder in its final position.
Budzius said the hydraulic crawler’s ability to boom down while walking was advantageous for this project. “It has the capacity and ability to walk with weight on the hook just like a lattice boom, but can get into tighter spots due to the ability to lower the boom. With a lattice boom, obviously, you’re at a fixed height. That added flexibility made the lifts go that much more smoothly.”
Once the team got into a rhythm, Budzius estimates that, after rigging was complete, setting each girder took around 45 minutes, even with the TCC-2500 having to walk with its load. Even more impressive, work was done at night as local law enforcement directed vehicular traffic.
The four-day turnaround was tight, but easily achieved via careful planning, selection of the right equipment, and cooperative weather.
This is not the last Illinois Tollway project that Metropolitan Steel and Central Contractors Service will collaborate on. Both entities will be working on another phase of work later this summer.
