STEEL GIANTS: Mega Cranes | Full Documentary

[Music] [Music] a mega crane in a wind farm huge chains a gigantic boom and incredibly heavy loads the construction of the crane is deceptively hard work a slight lego super big Lego the individual steel elements are huge but despite that it comes down to millimeters he just said the tolerances 0.3 degrees mega cranes are used in the remotest places in the world and they set spectacular records there's no need to be afraid you need to show respect mistakes can have dramatic consequences the construction of this steel Colossus is a challenge the engineers push the limits of physics come on you can't cheat the laws of physics either the whole lot falls over or part of the boom breaks after crane operators are tough types but with finely honed instincts here nothing works without teamwork just like in life this is a premier for the crane operators they'll be assembling this brand-new mega crane for the first time the most critical moment for us is raising the crane that's where you think about it man have we done everything just right crack the front end tighten it order break everyone is tense will the assembly run smoothly when it's up there and falls down then you've got a hole in your head we have to give everything today [Music] cranes as far as the eye can see this forest of cranes is located in a in in Baden Wurttemberg liebe hair has some of the largest cranes in the world the company premises cover an area of 850,000 square meters that's more than 100 football pitches the company is the world market leader in crane construction liebherr cranes are used all over the world in ports at industrial plants it opencast mining [Music] in inner cities or in the construction of wind turbines here a 750 ton crane assembles the rotor blades of a wind turbine in East Friesland the company Kanak from Hamburg bought the crane from liebe the LR 1750 - - it's their newest flagship and has some innovations compared to its predecessor even long standing crane operators need extensive instruction before using this type of crane and there they both are Costin heinze and christian hanket they're going to be training on this steel Colossus [Music] hello in the vin diesel hi there I'm Benny luck you'll be working on the new LR 1750 MIT then with the new sx boom system if the steam the crane has come direct from the factory that's why it's still gray and unpainted [Music] over the next two weeks the two crane operators will get to know their new equipment and its functions they'll check out every screw and every bolt they'll put the crane through its paces [Music] and they'll assemble it completely for the first time they'll be helped by Benjamin Locke he works for the manufacturer when we're up top later we'll have to put a load on it the LR 1750 - - this model is a so-called crawler crane one of the biggest it can lift up to 750 tonnes in the largest version it's almost 200 meters high up to the top of the boom its own weight is gigantic all of the individual parts together weigh around 800 tons one single link in the caterpillar train alone weighs almost 400 kilos anyone who wants to set up and operate a crane like this needs immense expertise and years of experience it can never become routine carelessness can have dramatic consequences Caterpillar cranes are far too big for smaller applications on construction sites in narrow residential areas so-called mobile cranes usually lift the loads they normally have the substructure of a conventional truck the crane is then permanently mounted on the substructure the advantage is that the crane can be transported quickly from A to B and it can be set up and dismantled in a relatively short time however it can usually lift significantly less weight than the large crawler cranes [Music] berlin-kreuzberg here a so-called weather protection roof needs to be removed craftsmen have been working for several months on the roof truss of this five-story house the weather roof has protected them from wind and rain Christian moolah is head of the Berlin crane rental company Mulla and zone the family-owned company rents mobile cranes mainly in Berlin and Brandenburg before any crane is erected Christian ruler inspects the site carefully the most important question is always whether there is enough space for the crane now I use the laser to measure the width of the road from the edge of the parking spaces to the curb and now I'm measuring the parking spaces to on-site Christian ruler produces a first rough drawing with all the dimensions of course you could do it right down to the centimeter if you have an exact point otherwise you have an approximate value so it doesn't come down to the centimeter we need things by the meter the crane operator is confident the road is wide enough so that's 17 meters Christian ruler enters further details in the drawing such as trees and street lamps this is important for the approval from the Road Traffic Authority these kinds of approval procedures can sometimes drag on in Berlin approval leap time in quotes back is about eight to ten weeks not exactly fast but a pretty good lead time after visiting the construction site the planning continues in the office thus Jan Miller uses special software for this here he enters all the values he noted down we've got a load of two tonnes which is what the weather roof is supposed to weigh we have a projection of 24 meters that is 11 meters to the side of the interfering edge and 13 meters diagonals to support the weather roof and then we can simulate this load all the companies cranes are stored in the system based on the entered data the program suggest suitable cranes Kljestan lula assigns his crane operator a ting kick Ilic known as eddy to this job he operates a 100 ton crane made by Tadano and he's been using it for several years basically the cranes are shared out each operator as the signed his own crane that's his personal environment that he's got there like his apartment sort of they set it all up so they have everything they might need where they can put their lunch box that's their living room in a few weeks it will be Eddie Kirika Lich's job to lift the weather roof off the roof truss and lower it down to the road then it will become clear whether Castillo Mueller's planning was correct back in the Swabian town of a union the family-owned company Lipa has been developing and building the largest and most powerful cranes in the world since 1949 they are repeatedly used for the most spectacular jobs often the special constructions have to move heavy loads in the tightest of spaces [Music] and the crane manufacturer is constantly setting new records the highlight of any lipe event the crane mobile the larger crane lifts the smaller one and so on in the end three large cranes and a small model crane hang in the hook of a single giant crane the to crane drivers Costin Hinds and Cristian hanket have no plans for such an action right now they are here to help build a wind farm in East Friesland this is where the new crawler crane LR 1750 - - is being used actually it's almost routine but the huge crane is equipped with the latest technology for this reason the two crane operators will now receive a two-week training course from the manufacturer it's like Lego super big Lego Lego is also lots of parts that are put together and that's exactly the same here sounds simple but it's also a challenge after all the men here are moving huge amounts of Steel the individual elements are brought by an auxilary crane they each weigh between 3 and 15 tons to stop the auxilary crane from tipping over while lifting it stands on supports Christianne henkaa connects the lattice mast components with heavy bolts these are then secured with an oversized safety split pin the openings are greased beforehand to ensure that the bolts sliding cleanly p.m. on either four months on the North Sea you've got saltwater here you've got more salt in the air and in the rain if you don't get things greased in time and you leave it together for a few months and it's possible that rust will set in later one bolt weighs about 15 kilos you can hardly knock it out even with a hammer that's why the men on a wagon carry a hydraulic bolt extractor the vanaf de Voort we use it to bolt and unbolt the bolts it's a huge help you don't have to hit them with a hammer but you do have to use it carefully there's a lot of power behind it although everything basically works like oversized Lego the men here are working with hard steel and not plastic bricks but it is still precision work if a part is not straight that would be fatal that is why everything is precisely controlled with a spirit level Oscar Nava has to be exactly straight because the part we're attaching hangs right after it and if the other ones at an angle they won't fit together he just said the tolerance is 0.3 degrees the crane is growing one piece at a time almost a whole day passes until it reaches its final length cranes like this one are available in different configurations different heights are possible depending on the requirements on site this crane now has a boom length of 177 meters the auxilary crane brings the last heavy part the end piece weighs two and a half tons cristian hanket knocks the bolts into the openings with a hammer [Music] later the heavy steel cable from which the crane hook hangs runs over these rollers the rollers are made of Teflon the benefit is that it's very light and doesn't break easily that means if there are stones in there it rolls on a little bit and then it just works its way in a little and doesn't break if it was a metal roller would be heavier and break more easily afterwards the men pull a power cable through the whole construction this will later be used to power several sensors among other things [Music] now we lay the electrics from the front of the feeder and pull the cable into the boom as far as the front of the head so we can power the flashing lamp at the front the flashing lamp flashes red later so that the crane can be seen from the air by airplanes and helicopters modern cranes are packed with electronics these days computers monitor the entire operation above all they ensure that the crane is stable under all conditions now um here we have the heart of the crane without these cards nothing works on the cranes I'm done they're inserted into the central units that's where all the data are stored with the complete configuration of the crane we can use them later for upgrades and you can't do anything without the cards the hoisting rope is just as important it alone weighs 5 tons this is why an auxilary crane is used to pull the rope over the entire construction to the crane tip of course it wouldn't be possible to thread this into the rollers by hand so the men hang it onto a forklift truck this pulls the rope through the rollers the Rope is subjected to severe stresses during operation because of this it needs to be regularly maintained and cared for with rope grease the rope is self lubricating from the inside and if it starts to rust from the outside then you have to apply it from the outside we've got special rope grease for the outside and that soaks right into the rope before erecting the crane cuts down anchored and trainer benjamin lock inspect the crane one more time from end to end they're still vexed you go right I'll take the left it's all the same to me we're now checking the boom from the top inspecting the entire boom again from the hinge joint to the headpiece we need to see if all the rods lock everything is tight there are no loose parts anywhere so that nothing can fall off when we erect the crane this check is vital for the crane teams because even a small part can become a deadly projectile when the crane is being raised up right the men have done good work everything's tight after almost two days of preparation they can finally erect to the crane Alex I'll let it run now and then we'll pull the boom out there cuz of the most critical moment is raising the crane that's where you think about it man have we done everything just right equipment tester benjamine luck starts the crane the system starts up and very slowly the huge boom moves upwards holy Creek the front end tighten it or it'll break he was gone so wished on what may be so a big of is a because okay but after a few meters benjamine lock stops again Costin Heinsohn christian hanket now feed the hoisting rope into the so called pulley with the crane hook [Music] [Music] only now can Benjamin look finally erect the crane [Music] due to its gigantic weight the boom bends as it is raised Benjamin Locke uses these joysticks to control almost everything on the crane turning lifting or lowering the load all this is done with these two levers centimeter by centimeter Benjamin lock pulls the crane upwards after half an hour the job is done [Music] and the crane is standing [Music] that's one of those moments when you say we've done it 6 a.m. in berlin spandau the courtyard of the crane rental company mula and soon is shrouded in swaths of fog fifteen mobile cranes are stationed here crane operator Eddie kerkovich prepares for the day's work he has to lift down a so called weather protection roof from a five-story residential building Eddie will be using a 100 ton mobile crane made by Tadano before he starts he checks everything thoroughly I'm out on just a quick look around to see if the tire pressure is correct and everything else checks out okay then it's time to get going he's got a good half hour's drive ahead of him in his company most drivers have their own crane assigned to them which they always use Eddie kerkovich knows his crane inside out I prefer driving the crane to my own car because you have a better overview in here the and the other drivers have more respect when you turn left or right there's always room dawn in Berlin the city is slowly waking up Eddie Kier Coolidge steers his mobile crane across the capital along the street of the 17th of June and past the victory column he arrives in a residential area in berlin-kreuzberg the road is narrow lady care college has to maneuver the truck extremely carefully the vehicle has steering axles this reduces the turning circle at the construction site scaffolders are already waiting to dismantle the weather roof Betty Kerr Coolidge doesn't waste any time and gets the crane ready for use to do this he first extends the supports [Music] to spread the cranes weight over a larger area he places wooden beams under the supports the cobble stone pavement alone cannot support the crane the load that will be hanging on the hook later on weighs about two and a half tons so the crane requires appropriate counter weights these have been delivered by Eddie's colleague Holger Gattaca [Music] the building is roughly 26 meters high to make sure the crane reaches all the way up to the top the boom comes with an extension the men have to mount this now that's the tip of the boon and we need to swing that out a bit then it'll be bolted at the front and then we'll fold the whole thing out Olga Gallagher pulls the boom tip into the correct position with a rope then the men assemble the pulley and thread in the steel cable in addition they also attach a so-called hoist limit weight to the boom tip this is a safety device to prevent the cranes hook block from bumping against the boom if the crane operator pulls it up too far if the crane operator can't see the end of the crane when it's above the roof the block swings against it and activates the switch and then the winch stops finally Holga Galica assembles the hook then Eddie Kirk Coolidge raises the boom it consists of a basic boom in five so called telescopic parts each telescopic part is almost 10 meters long the crane is now ready the men are ready to lift down the weather protection roof now from now on everyone involved in the project needs maximum concentration it is not an easy task and will present the workers with some challenges later on cranes are masterpieces of Engineering here it's about exploring the limits of physics again and again [Music] léa pair from Bob Merton bag builds the largest and most powerful cranes here they have huge halls with production lines much like the automotive industry [Music] the construction of a crane starts in a computer Yohe my ankle is head of the statics department together with his team he is constantly trying to realize extraordinary customer wishes but there are limits the leap he'll are 13,000 crane is the largest still mobile lattice boom crane the largest version of the boom is almost 250 meters long things wrong I think that with a conventional lattice boom crane they're about as good as they'll get this is why leap has engineers continue to improve existing cranes in order to raise the maximum load and reduce weak points like here at the base of the lattice mast what was your read here means a very high load everything coming from above must be transferred through this bottleneck to the undercarriage or the revolving platform I always say you can't cheat physics we are also responsible for staying within the physical limits and ensuring the safety of the crane during operation nevertheless serious crane accidents do happen such as here in Italy in this situation there seems to be too much on the hook the crane starts to shake and finally loses control it tilts forward and ends in disaster because of such accidents is usually not the technology but human error honk-honk on earth while a artin the crane like this can fail in two ways either the whole lot falls over or a part of the boom breaks off wrong we try to avoid that the production halls the crane manufacturers stores thousands of tons of steel they are huge quantities of pipes and plates these are later used to build all kinds of different cranes even a single steel plate can weigh up to 11 tonnes powerful magnetic cranes move along the ceiling of the hall the magnets lift the plates up and bring them into the production halls [Music] here a robot cuts individual components out of the plates with millimeter precision these will be used later to make the driver's cab or the heavy caterpillar track chains for example flares are drawn up with the individual parts depending on the size of the sheet metal they are sent here or electronically and the corresponding number is entered into the machine then the image appears on the screen and the cut takes place automatically the workers are really only here to load the machines and to clean up the parts the workers punch out the pieces as if it were cookie dough nothing is thrown away here the waste is melted down again later in the blast furnace in the hall next door workers build the lattice mast elements for the crawler cranes the pipes from the steel warehouse are welded together here it's a really tough job because it causes extreme heat and UV radiation so the men need additional protection from sunscreen we use 50-plus sunscreens in other words locksmiths and welders have to put cream on their faces so that every employee is protected depending on the size the production of a single element takes up to six months this is the tip of an LR 13,000 the world's most powerful crawler crane can lift up to 3,000 tons production supervisor dog with high slit checks the welds after welding the parts must rest for a while afterwards magnets and ultrasound are used to check whether the welders have done their job properly the huge crane parts have to be controlled precisely later on for this purpose the cranes are equipped with highly sensitive electronics cable harnesses fuses and switch cabinets are assembled in this area this is where assure hand counts we need very delicate fingers to work with these small parts and in the steel mill you need a very large grinding machine or welding machine the components are all much bigger one of the largest parts of a crawler crane is the caterpillar track the workers mount this using a crane afterwards it is then pre-stressed with 60 tons of force a forklift truck supports the track from below so that it does not slip down again it looks easy but a single chain link weighs about 400 kilos the entire chain about 28 tonnes [Music] this track is not yet exactly lined up an iron bar is therefore used to help only then does the chain link fall into the right position with a loud bang when the caterpillar drives for the first time later on the track will tighten up or even loosen a little depending on the situation it may be necessary to insert or remove a chain link the so-called revolving platforms are assembled in another production line these include a driver's cab engine and electronics at the end of the production lines the workers assemble the turntable and the crawlers in the technical jargon the parts are said to be married [Music] the men usually try to push the parts into the correct position by hand but that's more by force of habit because nothing here can be moved by hand alone its precision work with parts Wayne tons it takes 35 days before such a mega crane leaves the production line [Music] afterwards the crane is painted most customers want yellow to protect themselves from the toxic vapors the painters wear respirators they spray every single part yellow by hand [Music] a wind farm is being built in East Friesland for Costin Heinsohn Cristian hanket this is the first time that they will be using the new 750 ton crane in the field the two crane operators have to raise the nacelle and the three rotor blades for the wind turbine will this go smoothly at the first attempt they do not know [Music] they are being supported by ganache Tabu he's driving the auxilary crane the first parts are now arriving at the construction site approximately 100 truck loads are necessary to bring all crane parts to the construction site it's a logistical challenge almost two weeks pass before all the pieces are there the big one just like a life and everything that goes with it pre-assembly crane body large equipment ganache topple starts by laying out the parts in the field next to the wind farm there is plenty of space on the site of the future wind farm but setting up a crane is always a challenge everything has to be carefully organized nothing can go ahead without an exact plan yes you have to make sure that you have enough space to set up the boom if there are any trees power lines or the wind turbines here then you have to make sure that you have enough space behind the crane for the suspended ballast after all you've got over 400 tons standing in a relatively small area the setup area has to be flat has to be even yes these are actually the most important things and there's something else that's important to the crane operators order to make sure he can assign the parts to the correct crane at any time Costin Hynes and marks them with numbers in the meantime christen henkaa and guna schtoppel scratched the paint out of the openings for the fixing bolts with scrapers to the bottom and you do the top right now we've got time on our hands the transport is not here so we can do something else important work reducing the workload so that the holes are all clean and the boats can slide in easily after the lift heavy loads every crane requires the appropriate counter weights although they look very compact they weigh an incredible 12.5 tons each a single truck can carry just two of these weights [Music] Berlin quoits bag right next to the girl it's park crane operator Eddie kick Coolidge has to lift down a weather protection roof from a residential building with his 100 ton crane the roof consists of several individual elements each element weighs about two and a half tons [Applause] first the scaffolders undo the screw connections then they fastened for change to the roof element these are already attached to the crane hook the crane operator below cannot see what is happening up on the roof for him it's down to trust he receives the corresponding instructions from above via radio I mean swing to the left swing to the right and go up and all that stuff but these days Eddy care College can almost operate his crane in his sleep as in almost all cranes there are two joysticks for this among comedy the work with two movements even pressing downward slow as the load upwards raises it Oh and raising the glory well then this one is for turning to the left to the right and to push out the telescope in and out during the lifting process the men secure the roof element with a rope [Music] in this way they can keep it in position so it won't bump into anything although that is not easy between all these trees [Music] done on the ground the workers disassembled the roof elements this takes over half an hour for crane operator Eddie kick 'glitch this always means a break [Music] the men have already dismantled and loaded the first two roof element they're in a hurry because time is money son the crane is a Tadano mobile crane the boom is up to 51 metres long when fully extended in ideal conditions it can lift up to 100 tons however the further away the load is from the vehicle the less weight can be lifted otherwise the crane would tip over however occasionally operators seem to forget the rules of physics like here [Music] and there's no need to be afraid but you need to show respect this crane hasn't tipped over it is still lying on the ground and is about to be erected at the wind farm construction site in East Friesland the team led by the two crane operators cuscan hanket and Costin heinze has already assembled the individual parts now they connect thick ropes to the boom these will be used to raise the 196 meter long boom the ropes are made of aramid this plastic is extremely durable the ropes are there for five times more tear resistant than conventional steel ropes they are considerably lighter than steel cables but with the diameters used here they have the same load-bearing capacity for example the forces they have to understand they're much easier to handle than anything for assembling a crane is always tough work especially today it's 30 degrees the Sun is burning down and it's likely to be a very long day it's really hard work today there's no wind it's humid 30 degrees and heavy equipment but that's the way it is you need to take more breaks drink a lot last check before lifting the crane operators inspect the boom again they check whether everything is really tightly screwed and whether they forgotten anything for example if a single tool were left on the boom it could fall down when the crane is raised and cause serious injury to the crane operators when ash topple brushes clumps of earth off the boom with a broom they too could be dangerous for the men below sweeping the dust from underneath the mud that stuck underneath when it's up there and then falls down then you've got a hole in your head the special thing about this crane the men don't necessarily have to be in the cab they can control it and even raise it by remote control because of the heat today everything is taking much longer it's slowly getting late it is unclear whether the crane will be fully raised before nightfall the team is tense some final arrangements the men want to erect the brand-new crawler crane now it'll be the first time extreme concentration and delicate control with just two joystick movements Castillo anchored raises the heavy boom [Music] enormous forces are at work the boom bends like a giant banana it takes half an hour to reach its final position [Music] [Music] but men are relieved no accidents no damage to the vehicle no damage to other equipment to be honest it went perfectly just a bit late but that's just the way it is a few days later the crane is ready to raise the first components among other things the crane operators now install the final tower elements despite having this load on the hook the heavy crawler crane can still move [Music] Costin Heinze tilts his cab this way he can see better what's happening up on the hook [Music] after installing the tower elements the workers want to install the nacelle of the wind turbine the three rotor blades will be attached to this Chris John raise the cable slowly using a man baskets the crane lifts the workers to a height of 135 meters later these men will screw all the parts together the ride to the top takes only about one minute Chris John can you swing just a bit to the right time is pressing the wind has been too strong in the last couple of days and bad weather is also predicted for the days to come the team can't lose any time every day of downtime costs a lot of money to lift the heavy nacelle and the rotor blades the crane requires appropriate counter weights otherwise it would simply fall over depending on the weight of the load the men changed the counter weights [Music] we're hanging the palette on the back so we've got more suspended ballast and then the nacelle goes up khristianne hanket attaches the additional ballast with bolts this pallet now contains another 100 tons of steel weights [Music] we've now adjusted the ballast so the crane can lift the load and then it goes right up quick as a flash but despite the time pressure the crane operators have to remain calm every action is well considered it's almost like slow motion that's the worst thing that could happen is that we're not in the middle the part weighs a hundred tons then slides to the side and damages the aluminium because the housing is only aluminium that will be the worst actually while someone gets squashed because they're not expecting it the nacelle is hanging from the rope now it will become clear whether the 750 ton crane lives up to the manufacturer's promise [Music] that went well now everything's working fine the crane is doing very well we've got 100 tons and here we go centimeter by centimeter the crane lifts the nacelle upwards at a height of 135 meters the workers mounted onto the tower after that the log is updated we write down how much ballast we attached at the bag how far the pallet was extended to the rear so we know everything for the next time now we've tried it out and carried out some secure calculations but it has proved it's worth and we will keep doing it that way it's good [Music] [Applause] work on the construction site in Berlin quoits bag is also progressing well crane operator Eddie Coolidge is lifting the weather protection roof off a 26 meter high residential building down on the floor all the individual elements are dismantled originally two days were planned for this but it's cold and the men are moving at a tremendous pace they want to get finished plus every day of crane operation costs money it looks like the workers will actually get finished today but then comes the twist our site manager would like you to be here again tomorrow so that we can pick up all the horizontal lattice girders and so on I'll call the company and let them know after the event I thought we were gonna be done today we are more or less I'm but you heard that the construction manager wants me to stay here they want me to bring down some girders tomorrow well then for today however the work is over but whether roof has been brought down some plant everything turns out great and we'll carry on tomorrow taking a few smaller parts down will be done by noon at the wind farm construction site in East Friesland Assembly of the rotor blades is now in full swing each one is about 59 meters long and weighs about 25 tons however there were some major problems with the wind there have been considerable delays in the early evening crane operator Christine hanket lifts the workers again to a height of 135 meters and it's not until hours later it's almost dark that the team can lift the third rotor blade and mount it you crane operators are perfectly trained specialists the most important characteristics physical fitness patience and very good knowledge of physics without that it all goes wrong the job is tough but varied because every crane deployment is different day in and day out [Music] you

Channel: WELT Documentary

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Keywords: full documentary, full documentaries, hd documentary, hd documentaries, free documentary, welt documentary, welt documentaries, full length documentaries, documentary film, top documentaries, reports, factual film, crane, cranes, exceptional engineering, Liebherr cranes, caterpillar, hard rock crane, construction crane, exceptional engineering mega cranes

Id: Yq50_ABCLNk

Length: 49min 29sec (2969 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 31 2020