- The contractors on each project have trusted Potain and Manta Equipment for years to deliver their onsite lifting needs
- For these projects, the crane’s high capacity combined with jib lengths from 50 m to 65 m were key considerations in their selection.
There are currently eight Potain MCT 565 tower cranes split among two high profile construction projects in Singapore, underlining the growing popularity of the largest topless Potain model in the company’s Asia range. All are 25 t rated units.
Three of the units are currently operating at the site of the Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center in Singapore (HMGICS) in the Jurong Innovation District (JID). Across the other side of Singapore, a further five are being used for the construction of the Sengkang West Bus Depot near Seletar. All were rented to the projects’ contractors by local Potain fleet owner, Manta Equipment.
Marco Zucchet, Manitowoc’s sales director for mobile cranes and tower cranes in Asia, said the success of the Potain MCT 565 proved the value of designing to customer needs.
“When we first unveiled the Potain MCT 565 at the end of 2018 the feedback was extremely positive and because of our detailed Voice of the Customer process we knew it would have strong appeal,” he said. “We now have units working across Asia and the rest of the world and it is fantastic to see these eight units helping to build two high profile developments in Singapore.”
Potain brings Hyundai innovation center to life
The HMGICS will be a spectacular new 44,000 m2, state-of-the-art, seven-story innovation lab, with a building footprint of 28,000 m2. The three Potain MCT 565 cranes leading construction on the project were brought in between April and June of this year, where they were each erected to their 50 m working height within just two days of arrival.
While the MCT 565 offers a maximum potential jib length of 80 m, it also gives users a flexible choice of jib options, with contractors able to configure it in 5 m increments from 30 m up to the maximum 80 m. For the HMGICS job, the main contractor Hyundai Engineering chose to fit two units with 65 m jibs and the other with a 60 m jib. In these set-ups the cranes have end-of-jib capacities of 7.4 t and 8.7 t respectively, making them ideal for lifting precast concrete sections and other building materials.
Intended as a global base for Hyundai’s R&D experts, the HMGICS aims to revolutionize the future mobility value chain. It will also act as a testbed for a human-centred intelligent manufacturing platform with small-scale EV production on site. The roof will feature a landing port for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) vehicles, as well as solar panels to provide the site with clean, renewable energy. Construction is scheduled for completion by the end of 2022.
Transport hub takes shape with Potain MCT 565
At the Sengkang West Bus Depot across town, Manta Equipment has leased five topless MCT 565 cranes to Santarli Construction and Zheng Keng Engineering & Construction, the joint venture responsible for creating the new S$200 million transport hub. Erected between January and March of this year, the cranes are all operating at a working height of 60 m, with four units configured with 55 m jibs and one with a 50 m jib, for maximum jib-end capacities of 10 t and 12 t respectively.
Sengkang West Bus Depot will be Singapore’s third multi-storey bus facility and will accommodate approximately 600 of the country’s rapidly increasing bus fleet. The facility will include parking spaces, areas for refuelling and washing, repair and maintenance spaces, and administrative offices. A proposed dormitory for bus captains will maximize land use and reduce drivers’ travelling time to and from the depot. Completion is scheduled for 2024.
Benjamin Goh, sales and marketing manager at Manta Equipment, said the capabilities of the MCT 565 cranes together with the strong reputation of the Potain brand made them an instant choice for both the HMGICS and Sengkang West Bus Depot projects.
“Hyundai Engineering has long had trust and confidence in Potain cranes, so they were delighted with the proposal for three new Potain MCT 565 cranes for their project,” he said “They are only prepared to rely on the best possible equipment for such a spectacular project. Likewise, the main contractor on the Sengkang West Bus Depot project is a longtime Potain customer and appreciates the cranes’ reliability. This is an LTA (Land Transport Authority) project so there are strict protocols to follow, but because the cranes are new the contractor avoided the need to get approval for their use.
Big is beautiful
The Potain MCT 565 is built at Manitowoc’s facility in Zhangjiagang, China. Also available in 20 t and 32 t maximum capacities, the crane has several advantages beyond its recognized ease of transport and assembly.
With a compact design and innovative, space-saving features such as a folding cab on the slewing unit and a folding counter jib, each crane’s upper section can be shipped in just nine containers – four fewer than competing tower cranes of a similar size. There are also three counter jib options of 17 m, 21 m and 24 m to match the chosen jib length – a design feature that not only aids transportation and erection but also optimizes the crane’s overall footprint on tight job sites.
