(Update: photos of it working on the Peoria Lock and Dam. In 2019 it replaced lock gates in #5A because a barge allided with a gate and damaged it.
To help building the Olmsted dam, the USACE had a second 60' ringer that was built in 1978.)
<update>
A comment by TK on Lock #5A:
<update>
A comment by TK on Lock #5A:
Re: Hercules: The Hercules was initially purchased by Melborne Bros. Construcion of North Canton, Ohio. The crane and the barge was designed specifically to erect the bridge in Luling. The main barge has 4 outrigger barges with concrete counterweights. These barges provide stability, but they also allow for transportation on the river. The barges are detached and set on the main barge to make the Hercules narrow enough to pass through the locks. After completing the bridge in Luling, Melborne Bros took their crane to Huntington Ohio to erect another cable stayed suspension bridge. The 2-lane bridge in Huntington had precast concrete deck sections that were lifted into place. Both bridges and the crane were on the cover of Engineering News Record. I believe the Huntington bridge was completed in 1984. The crane was sold after the Huntington bridge was completed. At that time, Hercules has erected 2 of the first 4 cable stayed bridges in the US. I was on board the Hercules once when it was in Huntington. It was impressive enough for me to look it up on line today and leave this information.</update>
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| Ben Stalvey posted Can't wait to see more pictures of this platform Ringer. The US Army Corp Of Engineers owns it now. Called Hercules |
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| Josh Karras commented on the posting [This is another barge mounted ringer crane with a jib and a big pile of counterweights.] |
In 2013, Hercules helped clean up the Marseilles Dam barge allision.
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| US Coast Guard Photo from gCaptain |
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| Tim Freitag posted He is at Peoria Lock and Dam There you go Ben think this is a 4100. It's a core rig named Hercules. Ben StalveyGroup Admin It's actually a 60' platform ringer. All platform ringers were based off of some pieces and parts of a 4600. |
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| Mike Weaver commented on Tim's posting |
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| Mike Weaver commented on Tim's posting Ben StalveyGroup Admin Sure is neat how it folds down Jon Hart Has to fit under those bridges! |
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| Andrew Erickson posted Hercules headed up river by Lacon IL [I wonder where the USACE stores it between jobs. (Update: it was owned by the Rock Island District so it was probably stored at their fabrication facility at Lock & Dam #14)] |
Dennis DeBruler posted two photos with the comment:
That sure is Hercules
2019 Update:
The Hercules is still at the Olmsted Dam [Dan O'Neal It is still at Olmsted Lock and Dam Olmsted, Ill. (post)].
Here is a similar crane being manufactured.
The American Bridge ringer was mounted on a gantry instead of a barge.
Misc Update:
These are evidently not the Hercules itself, but similar barge based ringer cranes made by Manitowoc.
The USACE has built a new barge mounted crane using a Manitowoc 18000 on a pedestal.
Ben Stalvey posted three photos with the comment: "So here is my throwback Thursday post of the week. Blast from the past.... Melbourne Brothers 60ft platform ringer with self erecting mast being built. 1979 location Manitowoc WI. I do believe the Army Corp Of Engineers owns it currently."
Ben Stalvey Almost positive this crane is now named Hercules. Owned by the US Army Corp Of Engineers.
Andrew Krausz Ben Stalvey you are correct.
The only thing I learned about the new crane from the Tower Times is that "Quad Cities" is the name and that each gate it lifted weighed about 240,000 pounds. They can replace a gate during a 12-hour shift at a cost of $390,000.
Fort Loudoun Lock posted a video with the comment: "The Rock Island District Corps of Engineers has a new heavy lift crane barge/Derrick boat that can lift a million pounds! Check it out! The new crane was named the "Quad Cities" and will provide much needed support for the Upper Mississippi River system and beyond potentially."
A couple of screenshots from a news report video. They spent more time talking about the new barge than the new crane.
The current Google Maps satellite image has a ringer working on the Dresden Dam. I wonder if it is the Hercules. The ringer has lowered a bulkhead into the gate opening and lifted the Tainter gate onto a couple of barges that are lashed together as a work surface. One of the support barges also has a crane. I included the overview because they are releasing water through just three gates to keep the river's flow away from the gate repair even though that increases the flow near the shipping channel. https://www.google.com/…/@41.3992349,-88.2821…/data=!3m1!1e3Ben Stalvey
That sure is Hercules |
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| Beau Niedjelski commented on Dennis' posting It's probably this crane I see it up and down the illinois river all the time |
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| Joe Ahern commented on Dennis' posting [This photo taught me to try out the I&M Canal trail head parking lot on the north side and walk East down the trail instead of going to the dam's visitor center on the south side.] |
The Hercules is still at the Olmsted Dam [Dan O'Neal It is still at Olmsted Lock and Dam Olmsted, Ill. (post)].
Here is a similar crane being manufactured.
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| Ben Stalvey posted One massive 60ft platform ringer. This was at the time the start of the massive American Bridge Gantry Manitowoc platform ringer. |
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| Ben Stalvey commented on his post A 60' diameter PLATFORM-RINGER equipped with 180' boom and 120' jib handling a 460-ton, 65' diameter heat exchanger. The gantry it's on is 50' high, and the crane set the piece onto anchor bolts 12' below grade with 1/16" tolerance. Job took place in 1980 or 1981 for a USAF jet-engine test facility at Arnold Air Force Base in Tullahoma, Tennessee. Was on cover of Manitowoc's 1981 annual report and was also a Manitowoc ad that would have run in Engineering News-Record. |
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| Steven Mason commented on Ben's post, cropped Here it is with 850000 pounds on the hook. |
Misc Update:
These are evidently not the Hercules itself, but similar barge based ringer cranes made by Manitowoc.
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| Bob Donnoe posted Snoopy Guillory That’s a series 600 sea crane. I’ve made many a round on that girl. Still goin strong too. 800 ton. It was downgraded years ago. I load tested it at 1275 tons. Used to have a boiler in the back for the Vulcan steam hammers we would use to drive pile with. Only 3 like it in the world. Rickey Park You could smoke a cigar waiting for that block to drop. Snoopy Guillory It comes down faster than you think. Going up is a different story. Lol Snoopy Guillory Three cranes, Arapaho, Cherokee, and Cheyenne. The Cherokee crane was 975 tons the last time I was there. |
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| William Oldani commented on Bob's posting |
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| Joseph Daniel Imhoff commented on Bob's posting That’s the Hercules Snoopy Guillory That’s the Cherokee. Hercules had a spool in the main deck.Joseph Daniel Imhoff It can be removed but when I was on there no more spool it was just in the yard.Snoopy Guillory The Hercules didn’t have the extension in the front of the pipe alley.Ray Green This photo is not the Hercules. The Hercules has a Clyde on it. Doesn't look like it unless they did a major overhaul on it. The tower was almost on the side of the crane. I miss the old Hercules, many good times.Johnny Berryhill Looks like the Arapaho |
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| Joseph Daniel Imhoff commented on Bob's posting |
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| Joseph Daniel Imhoff commented on Bob's posting |
The USACE has built a new barge mounted crane using a Manitowoc 18000 on a pedestal.
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| John R Galle shared New crane barge for the Corps of Engineers from Conrad Industries |
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| Mike Sisung commented on John's share, cropped This is the a picture i took of it a few weeks ago |
Ben Stalvey Almost positive this crane is now named Hercules. Owned by the US Army Corp Of Engineers.
Andrew Krausz Ben Stalvey you are correct.
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| Ben Stelvey shared One rare machine a Manitowoc platform ringer. That belong to the US Army Corp Of Engineers |
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| Paul Carpenter posted Visitors at the Starved Rock Lock and Dam Visitors Center between Ottawa and Utica watched as the Mary Lucy Lane passed through the lock near Rock Island District’s Army Corps of Engineers crane Hercules. A smaller crane is nearby. Work on the lock is scheduled for summer. Pleasant weather Sunday, Feb. 23, brought out many visitors here and at other outdoor sites. [We cans see some replacement gates to the right of Hercules.] |
Quad Cities Replaced Hercules
Can this crane lift more?
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| USACE posted The February/March issue of the Tower Times is now available online. This issue includes information about winter maintenance, District realignment, flood season preparation and much more! Check it out by clicking here: https://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/.../Publications/Tower-Times/ [The above link does the most recent issue. This link should go to the desired issue.] Anthony Heddlesten shared |
The only thing I learned about the new crane from the Tower Times is that "Quad Cities" is the name and that each gate it lifted weighed about 240,000 pounds. They can replace a gate during a 12-hour shift at a cost of $390,000.
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| USACE-Feb/Mar 2020 |
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| Paul Carpenter posted It's not easy to use words to describe the size of the repair and modernization of the Illinois River lock at Utica. A photo often serves better, but even so the enormity of the work in the 600-foot long lock is hard to depict. The equipment used ranges in size from an ordinary claw hammer to this enormous crane. The crane operator at lower right has just climbed down from his seat in the crane at the end of work Oct. 1. |
Fort Loudoun Lock posted a video with the comment: "The Rock Island District Corps of Engineers has a new heavy lift crane barge/Derrick boat that can lift a million pounds! Check it out! The new crane was named the "Quad Cities" and will provide much needed support for the Upper Mississippi River system and beyond potentially."
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| Screenshot @ 1:50 [The crane replaces the 1986 crane. [1:03]] |
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| One of 15 photos posted by Raw Images Art & Photography, cropped Look what I found headed down river today under the New I-74 Mississippi River bridge. This is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, heavy lift crane barge. This is the largest heavy-lift crane barge on the Mississippi River. The new crane is a Seatrax Series S140, Model S14440 which includes a 193-foot boom that can rotate a full 360 degrees. It has a 500 ton lift capacity and is designed specifically for lifting lock and dam gates (notice the gates on the barge behind the crane). What a site to behold. Sure hope they are headed all the way down river to help the hurricane [Ida, Aug 2021] victims. Been praying for all those down south and especially some of the towboats/tugboats that got hit. (I will post the construction photos tomorrow). Raw Images Art & Photography shared [It is done replacing the gates for Lock #2. I wonder which lock it is going to work on now. It must have picked up the new gates from its home dock near #14.] |
A couple of screenshots from a news report video. They spent more time talking about the new barge than the new crane.
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| 1 of 60 photos posted by Raw Images Art & Photography For those of you who know me - you know I love those red cranes. This one is a Seatrax that is currently docked at Lock and Dam 15. It belongs to the US Army Corp of Engineers and is a floating crane called the Quad Cities. I was told they just finished working on the up river gate. This crane is a beast. If you like cranes, you will love these photos. Shout out to the US Army Corps of Engineers Rock Island District. Xzantronos Aldreas: I got to take a Tour of it, I was on the M/V Gladys Ford that brought it to it's first job at Leland Bowman locks in the ICW. Here is a fun fact. It has an automatic ballast system that keeps that big girl level while in operation. Tammy Mutka shared |
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| USACE post via Dennis DeBruler |
USACE posted three photos with the comment:
The replacement of the upstream lift gates at the 1,200-foot main chamber at the Melvin Price Locks and Dam in Alton, Ill. is nearly complete. Two lift gates leafs, each measuring 110-feet-wide by 26-feet tall and weighing 270 tons, were lowered into position by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District's Quad Cities Floating Plant Heavy Lift Team.In 2024, St. Louis District staff supported 4,797 lockages and the movement of more than 45 million tons of cargo through the Melvin Price Locks and Dam structure. This marks the final phase of a multi-year maintenance project, ensuring continued efficiency for navigation.While the 1200-foot main lock chamber was closed during this critical work, the 600-foot lock chamber has remained open to waterborne traffic.Mississippi Valley Division (US Army Corps of Engineers)
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Since the Quad Cities was built in Morgan City, LA, its first lifts were removing sector gates from the Leland Bowman Locks.
In Sep 2022, the Quad Cities went down river to Louisiana to help replace two miter gates in the Old River Lock.
In-between jobs the Hercules has been moored at lock and dam #6 as it has been doing a large amount of work this last year on the Illinois river
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