- Strabag has deployed Germany’s first Potain MDT 809 tower crane, which, with a capacity of up to 40 t and 80 m of the jib, is the largest topless crane ever to be built by Manitowoc.
- The Austrian contractor required the giant crane to meet its capacity and reach requirements for the FAIR particle accelerator facility construction project in Darmstadt, Germany, where it was installed on March 31 and will remain for three years.
- Strabag chose the Potain MDT 809 over other tower cranes in the 800 mt categories for its simple transport, erection and disassembly requirements, which are the same as for a smaller crane of standard size.
Following its successful market launch at Bauma 2019, the Potain MDT 809 has arrived on several construction sites in North America, Asia Pacific and Europe.
Since December 2019, the brand’s largest topless crane to date has extended one of the world’s most famous skylines as it helps to reconstruct the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France.
Now Germany has seen its first MDT 809 rise up from the ground to construct the FAIR particle accelerator plant in Darmstadt, where it will work alongside an MDT 259 and among a lot of other cranes for at least two years.
Austrian construction company Strabag took delivery of the giant crane at the end of 2020, having selected it for its topless design, high load capacity, optimized transport, quick and efficient assembly, low operating costs and outstanding performance thanks to the latest technology and Manitowoc Crane Control System (CCS).
The Potain MDT 809 topless tower crane is available in three payload variants – 25 t, 32 t and 40 t. Strabag chose the 32 t variant, which offers a maximum load of 8.3 t at the jib tip. The crane on site is set up with 80 m jib length and 67.10 m height under hook. The erection on fixing angles took just one day for the masts and the slewing part. This was possible thanks to the preparatory work Strabag did, such as preparing the 15 m long tower segments and assembling the jib in 15 m sections.
