The UAE-based crane service provider Al Faris used a Demag CC 3800-1 to lift three 72-m-long, 130-tonne spud legs from a barge at one of the biggest shipyards in the region, in Hamriyah.

The unit first had to be transported to the work site. The company?s own low-bed trailers needed a good 10 hours to complete the 82-km journey from the Al Faris location in Dubai Industrial City to the work site. Al Faris? own all terrain cranes were used in order to set up the CC 3800-1.

At the work site, Al Faris used 10 of their specialised team members to get the crane ready to operate. The team decided on a configuration with a 108-m-long main boom and a Superlift mast with a length of 36 m. The central ballast totalled 50 tonne, the Superlift counterweight 325 tonne, and the counterweight on the superstructure 165 tonne. Once set up this way, the CC 3800-1 was ready to lift the three spud legs, (having a gross weight of 130 tonne each), at a maximum radius of 50 m, swing them to the side, and then set them in place with the help of a 150-tonne crawler crane. The CC 3800-1 only used 68 per cent of its available rated capacity for the lifts. The Superlift Split Tray proved to be especially useful for the project. This tray makes it possible to easily uncouple the counterweight when it is no longer required for the ongoing job, so that the crane can then move only with the Superlift counterweight that is still needed.