Sarens SGC-140

Carl Sarens, the technical director, described the SGC 140 as the next step. It was erected at the launch with 118 metres of the main boom. It can also be 89 m and the maximum is 130 m. A jib up to 99.5 m is available to go on the 130 m boom. It will lift 2,820 tonnes at a 50 m radius, Sarens said. The crane was erected in six weeks.

Working from the same basic design as the SGC-120 super crane, the SGC-140 features several upgrades beyond the improved load chart. While the crane has the same geometry and boom as the SGC-120, it boasts a larger counterweight, tipping the scales at 4,000 metric tons. This added counterweight allows for the improved load-moment performance over the SGC-120’s, says Sarens. The counterweight is made up of shipping containers—filled with sand or gravel, sourced near the site—a feature of larger cranes that reduces transport costs.

The boom has three configurations: 89 m, 118 m and 130 m. The boom length can be increased with jib extensions, ranging from 40.5 m to 99.5 m.

The crane’s power systems have been upgraded to meet Tier 4 Final emissions standards, allowing the crane to be deployed in the U.S. without the need for additional emissions controls. The power system consists of six power-pack units: standard 20-ft shipping containers with two 260-kw Caterpillar engines each.

The outer diameter of the ring at the base of the crane is 43.6 m and there are 96 wheels for the crane to run on around the double rail ring track. On the machinery deck, there is room for 8 winches, each with a 60-tonne line pull. There are also six power packs, and electrical container and the operator cabin. Each of the 40 specially designed and constructed corrugated steel containers making up the counterweight weigh 100 tonnes when filled with local material. For transport, the material is emptied out and they are used to ship parts and components of the crane.

In addition to fitting the emissions controls inside the profile of the power packs, the power system for the SGC-140 is also significantly quieter during operation than the SGC-120. Noise-mitigation materials were added to the containers’ panels, and a quieter exhaust system minimizes ambient noise. “It was a lot of engineering to fit hydraulics, engines … in the 20-feet containers,” recalls Sarens. “This design will be the minimal standard for all of our new cranes.”

Destined for a large industrial project in Kazakhstan for state-owned petro­chemical giant TCO, the SGC-140 is expected to travel to other global customers that Sarens is in the process of lining up.

The previous crane in the line, the SGC-120, began its journey working on an Intel plant in Chandler, Ariz., in 2011, before heading to an industrial project in China, a nuclear plant in France and an oil-and-gas operation in Indonesia. After a few other stops, it is now used in offshore work in Newcastle, England.

“I think there will be increasing demand for these sort of cranes,” Sarens told ENR. “Many types of projects are scaling up, and there are lifts that cannot be done with a standard crane anymore. Power plants are always getting bigger with more capacity. It is not a downward trend in cranes now, and we need to have the top cranes in the world.”