Smith Crane & Construction is incredibly proud to be featured in the latest edition of the Cranes and Lifting magazine.

The article highlights our continued investment in New Zealand's lifting industry, including the arrival of our Liebherr LR11000, and our commitment to delivering world-class heavy lifting solutions on some of the country's most complex and challenging projects.

Congratulations to George on achieving his New Zealand Certificate in Heavy Automotive Engineering – Plant and Equipment Level 4. 

Our Kroll K1650L luffing tower crane has now been successfully mobilised on the New Dunedin Hospital Inpatient Project.

The Kroll K1650L is an extraordinary piece of engineering and one of the largest tower cranes operating in New Zealand. With a 135-tonne lifting capacity, it is configured on this project with a 78-metre boom.

A busy day at Lyttelton Port saw multiple heavy lifting operations take place simultaneously as major infrastructure equipment arrived aboard the same vessel.

Our team successfully unloaded KiwiRail locomotives and lifted them onto the rail network using the Demag AC 350-6 alongside the Grove GMK5220. Careful planning and coordination ensured the operation was completed safely and efficiently within the busy port environment.

Big gear, tight tolerances, and a proper team effort at Auckland Airport.

Over the weekend 02-03 May, our newly arrived 500T mobile crane was mobilised and set up on site to dismantle the largest tower crane Auckland Airport has ever used.

The 500T (Liebherr LTM1500-8.1), configured with a 49m luffer and 165T of counterweight, was onsite for a total of 3.5 days – with 2 of those dedicated to dismantling, carried out by an 8-person crew.

Smith Crane and Construction supporting Stage One of Waihao North Bridge.

Another 8 pre-cast hollowcore beams have departed the yard for Stage One of the Waihao North Bridge replacement project for HEB Construction.

Each beam measures over 24 metres long and weighs approximately 34 tonnes, with a total of 32 beams required for the bridge - adding up to more than 1,088 tonnes transported by the Smith Crane and Construction Heavy Haulage Division.

Monday 18 May 2026 represented a major milestone at Kaiwera Downs Stage 2, as we successfully installed the final blade on the last Vestas turbine. To celebrate the occasion, the national flags of everyone involved were tied to the final blade in a ceremonial display. It was a proud and emotional moment for all on site, reflecting on the past few months and the tireless effort and dedication our team has contributed to the project.

New Zealand’s largest lattice boom crawler crane, the Liebherr LR11000, is proving its capability at the Kaiwaikawe Wind Farm, with two turbines now successfully completed since lifting operations commenced after Easter.

Crews from Smith Crane & Construction have commenced erection of precast panels in Queenstown for Cook Brothers Construction, utilising one of our two Liebherr LTR 1220 220-tonne telescopic crawler cranes.

The precast elements are being manufactured by our Christchurch-based team, with manufacture, transport, craneage, and site installation all being delivered in-house. This end-to-end capability provides a seamless, one-stop-shop solution that ensures efficiency, quality control, and smooth coordination across every stage of the project.

Big upgrades underway at Nelson Marina.

Smith Crane and Construction’s Civil team has been engaged to remove the old 55T mobile boat lift platform and install a new structure to support a 110T mobile boat lift - opening the door for larger vessels and more efficient servicing.

Smith Crane and Construction was proud to work alongside Citycare Property to remount one of Christchurch’s most iconic landmarks - the Spitfire plane at Spitfire Square.

We’re proud to announce that Smith Crane and Construction has been awarded the crane and installation contract for the Kapuni wind farm and green hydrogen production plant in South Taranaki.

New addition to the fleet! Introducing our Liebherr LTM 1500-8.1 500t Mobile Crane.

Our Liebherr LTR11200 crawler crane has successfully installed the first set of turbine blades. Once complete, Kaiwera Downs will have a total capacity of 198MW, making it the second-largest wind farm in New Zealand.

Merry Christmas from Tim and the Smith Crane and Construction Team! Thank you to all our valued customers, sub-contractors, and staff for all your support and hard work this year.

Massive congratulations to Tim Ridder (Tug Boat) on achieving his Level 4 Certificate in Heavy Automotive Engineering – Plant & Equipment.

The team successfully placed the 90m Te Reinga Bridge span over the Wairoa River - standing 18m high and weighing in at 200t, using our 1000t Liebherr LR11000 crawler crane.

Recently our crew has been working down in Antarctica on the Discovery Pier Project at McMurdo Station, working along side crews from LT McGuinness, McMillian Civil, RCP and the United States Navy Seabees.

A major milestone this week — the first base tower is now installed!

SCC was privileged to take part in the groundbreaking ceremony, with the SCC team driving the first of 126 piles.