A TEREX crawler crane was called into action to successfully lift and position a hydro treating reactor for the Yanbu Export Refinery in Saudi Arabia.

The CC8800-1 crawler crane travelled 1,250 km to safely hoist in place the 771-tonne reactor that was 67 m tall with a radius of 3 m, used in the oil refining process.

The cranes are built as a series, standardising the production process so that transportation, rigging and maintenance ease are built into each crane produced.

The Daelim Industrial Company-KSA, Saudi Arabia, hired heavy lifting specialists Integrated Logistics Company of Kuwait, who prepped the lifting equipment required for the planned tandem lift. This included the Terex CC 8800-1 lattice boom crawler crane.

In total, 67 flatbed, 20 low-bed and two hydraulic trailers were required to make the 1,250-km trip. “It took approximately seven days for all the trailers to reach the site,” said Manoj, deputy general manager – operations for Integrated Logistics.

The series-produced CC 8800-1 crane offers several design advantages that helps to facilitate transport ease. “The crane design takes into account transport requirements for virtually every market in the world,” said Christian Kassner, international sales manager for Terex Cranes.

“Every component is less than 3.5-m wide, and most components have a shipping weight of less than 40 tonnes. By making this 1,600-tonne crane as a production model, Terex offers significant advantages over competitive designs that are made as a one-off, custom-design crane to meet a specific market need,” he said.

“Timely completion was important on this project since there was little margin due to heavy competition at the bidding stage,” said Manoj. “We appreciated the relative ease and speed in which the crane was transported and rigged.”

The massive operation began following the arrival of the crane’s components at the Yanbu refinery. A nine-crew team of Integrated Logistics, comprising two operators, six riggers and one supervisor began assembling the CC 8800-1 and the supporting crane equipment. The crawler crane was configured with a 78-m main boom for lifting the reactor. Hydraulic pinning of the boom segments increased the speed of boom assembly.

The crew used the maximum 640-tonne superlift counterweight package with 295-tonne counterweight on the superstructure and 60-tonne central ballast. Counterweight radius for the tray was set at 25 m. Two 800-tonne hook blocks and one 1,000-tonne Crosby shackle were required to lift the massive reactor, bringing the total weight lift requirements to 810 tonnes. 

After six days, Integrated Logistics’ crew was ready to hoist the reactor into position. “Using the CC 8800-1 as the main crane, we maintained a lifting speed of approximately 2 m per minute,” said Manoj.

“The accuracy of the crane’s control system for this project helped with the lift.”

The CC 8800-1 crane uses the IC-1 control system. It features touchscreen control with intuitive displays for operating ease, ground pressure indicator and extensive auto-diagnostic functions, making on-site troubleshooting easier to increase uptime.

Within a day, the reactor was hoisted and positioned at the congested site.