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.

The Comansa 21CM1100-50 (10m x 10m chassis, 120T ballast) was on site for over 3 years as part of the Eastern Terminal Integration project – far from a short stint. At its peak, it stood 40m high with an 80m reach and has a maximum SWL of 50T or 11T @ 80m radius, with ability to reach 90m with the special Jib extension. It’s also worth noting this is the largest flat-top tower crane in New Zealand – and one of four in our fleet.

The toughest lift of the job was a 26T pick at a 51m radius, completed in a live airport environment with zero room for error.

This job came down to precision and planning:

- Strict 70m height restriction

- Tight working windows around active runway operations

- Underground services dictating crane positioning

- Heavy lift matting used to reduce outrigger pressure to 25%

The crane was positioned within the building footprint, meaning only the tower sections could be removed from above. The chassis and ballast then had to be extracted from underneath with just 4m of clearance – tight access the whole way through. A 40T Franna and low mast 12T forklift were used to complete the extraction.

Not a straightforward job by any measure – but Smith Crane’s made it happen.