CRANE’s April edition includes a feature story on AT cranes, and interviews Dave Myers, business development director for Alaska Crane. Alaska Crane recently took possession of the state’s largest all-terrain in February – a Liebherr LTM 1500-8.1.
“The AT isn’t replacing the crawler, ” says Dave Myers. “The crawler’s place is on a large, site-specific project where it is able to pick and crawl. The downside to it are the one- and two- pick jobs, the burdensome mob, and setup commitments to make those picks. That’s the niche where these AT cranes fit.”
Alaska Crane has been moving into industries like renewable energy, and it is reaping the large AT’s mobility advantages. “There are off-road system utility wind sites with large tower turbines that require either barge across or rail access,” Myers says. “The LTM 1500-8.1 is the only crane in the state that has the capacity to roll on or off a barge to a rail car to service these wind turbines in remote locations, requiring very few fall-off loads. ”
Depending on the configuration of the crane, the number of truck loads varies. Erik Reed, project manager with Alaska Crane, says it can range from five to ten loads. A comparable 600-ton crawler would require 30 or 35 truckloads.