Contractors Use a Grove to Assemble a Manitowoc on Tough, Uneven Terrain

Wed May 02, 2018
Crane Equipment Guide

Mosites Construction & Development Company (Mosites) is working on a $93 million infrastructure project that will add seven new bridges along 4 mi. of highway on the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Pittsburgh. The pier caps of the first bridge have already been completed, and two Manitowoc cranes — a Manitowoc MLC165-1 and a Grove GHC75 — were crucial to the success of the project.

The Pittsburgh-based company chose the MLC165-1 to build the pier caps, but conditions on the job site made erecting the 182-ton (165 t) crawler crane difficult. The site was located at the bottom of a creek bed, where trucks could not easily traverse the wet, uneven soil to deposit the crane's parts for assembly. The ideal solution to this challenge was a Grove GHC75 telescoping crawler crane.

"The MLC165-1 had the size and capacity we needed to build the pier caps, so choosing it was easy," said John Dove, superintendent for Mosites. "But since we were working on such uneven terrain, erecting it on the job site was a challenge. Our trucks couldn't travel down the 17 percent grade to the bottom of the creek bed, so we needed a maneuverable lifting solution that could get the MLC165-1's components to a level area where we could assemble them."

The 75-ton (68 t) GHC75's combination of crawler maneuverability, telescoping boom versatility and 100 percent pick-and-carry function enabled contractors to move the crawler crane's parts into position.

"The GHC75 was the perfect crane for the situation we were in," Dove said. "The crane can be 4 percent off level and still make picks, which is ideal in a swamp. We were able to extend the GHC75's tracks and tackle the terrain without spending time and money on additional matting."

Once the MLC165-1 was erected with 197 ft. (60 m) of boom, operators used it to install 20-ton sections of formwork, which were lifted to heights of 80 ft. After the formwork, the crane lifted 17.5-ton rebar cages, which were placed at 150 ft. The pier cap installation was completed in August of 2017.

"We found the MLC165-1 to be very effective for bridge work," Dove explained. "And given the restraints of the job site, we were glad to have the GHC75 on hand, too."

Mosites rented both cranes from Stephenson Equipment, which has been providing sales and rentals of construction equipment, paving machinery and cranes since 1957. The Harrisburg, Pa.-based company serves customers from six locations across its home state and New York. Stephenson is an official dealer of Manitowoc, Grove, National Crane and Potain cranes.

Mosites Construction & Development Company was founded in 1959 and is located in the Greater Pittsburgh area. The company offers numerous services, including civil estimating, CPM scheduling, value engineering analysis, bidding and procurement, purchasing, pre-construction and construction management and concrete construction.

For more information, visit www.manitowoc.com.