ALE SK350 can lift at least 4000 tons, SGC-250 does 5000 tonnes

It can lift 4000t with a winch and 5000t with strand jacks. A comment pointed out that the mobile crane helping to place the counterweights would normally be considered a big crane. Each counterweight is a specially reinforced 40' container that is filled with locally available material such as sand or gravel. A filled container is 100t and 4000t of ballast material is needed. [brochure, p 21] The crane was designed as pieces that will fit in shipping containers. It can be assembled in four weeks using a 400t crawler crane. [brochure, p 17] The counterweight assembly is supported on tracks so that the ring can be replaced with a straight track and the whole crane moved on site in just a few days. [brochure, p 25]

Arthur Overdijk shared
AL.SH[SK] 350 (Collin Jones )
[A test lift]

ALE posted, cropped
ALE has used its innovative heavy duty jib for the first time with the AL.SK350 crane whilst performing the inaugural lift, weighing 1,276t, of an FPSO module integration project in Nigeria https://goo.gl/BZ3eKk.

Inaugural Lift
"The world’s largest capacity land based crane, the AL.SK350, has been rigged in its current biggest configuration with a 124m a-frame main boom, 49m ballast radius and the 38m jib for additional outreach, along with a heavy winch system and 4,000t ballast for the project in Lagos."

Inaugural Lift
Another of the six modules they are lifting into place during March and April, 2018.

The ALE SK350 crane was launched in 2013 with a lifting capacity of 5,000t and a load moment of 354,000tm. The AL.SK cranes are also available in AL.SK190 and AL.SK700 configurations, achieving capacities up to 4,300t and 8,000t respectively. Furthermore, the cranes can be equipped with a 3,400t capacity heavy duty jib. The jib is being used on an FPSO module integration project in Nigeria. [ale-heavylift]

More photos and videos of ALE and other big-lift cranes

CraneNetworkNews

SARENS LAUNCHES THE LARGEST CRANE IN THE WORLD: THE SGC-250

Crane CN posted
A beauty the most powerful of all
Barry Cole: What are two white? Lines from ground to midpoint? Tie downs, for wind, storage?
Christian Sturm: Barry Cole it's called Wind Ankers keeps the SK350 stable during high wind force.
Matthew Chavez: Christian Sturm are these added end of day, long off periods, or work with daily functions?
Christian Sturm: Matthew Chavez no only if they get high winds ! Otherwise you have to boom down all the time with the Wind Ankers you can have the SK350 boom up to 120km/h.
Gaetan Rahrojan: Formerly ALE crane

It looks like they just flipped the above photo.

Crane AZ posted
A beauty the most powerful of all
Blake LeDrew: Argentia Newfoundland

Brian Verhoeven: why would the boom be tethered to the ground at the gib connection?

Blake LeDrew: Brian Verhoeven for high winds over 120km/h.

Johnny Blanket commented on the above post
Liebherr sk350....

Marc Eh Veenstra: Johnny Blanket Just to make clear, this is not a Liebherr crane 😉 design and developed in the Netherlands by Lastra/ALE

CBC
The AL.SK350 is one of the largest land-based cranes in the world. (Twitter)

It can lift up to 5,000 tonnes. Its boom is 124 metres long — longer than two NHL-sized ice rinks placed end to end.It arrived in Newfoundland in 200 shipping containers, requiring 300-tonne cranes just to piece it together.
Impressive, but none of that is why it's so vital to Husky's operations, as workers piece together a platform that will eventually be floated out to sea and capture offshore oil.
"The real purpose of this crane is just its reach," said Sandy Nairn, vice-president of the West White Rose Project.
ALE designed and built the crane, part of a line of cranes it launched in 2013, and the company website describes the AL.SK350 as "the largest capacity land-based crane in the world by some distance."
That 163-metre reach means it can lift almost anything on the Argentia site, even though the crane itself is stationary.
...
The crane will be in Argentia until early 2020, when it will be then broken down again into its small parts and shipped off to its next international destination.
[CBC]

Tweet
The massive ALE SK350 crane, one of the largest land-based cranes in the world, will safely and efficiently install fully assembled interior components at the West White Rose Project in Argentia. Learn more at: http://wwrp.huskyenergy.com/Project_overview …

And some post descriptions are wrong. Thank goodness for comments.

Crane Operators Forum - Heavy Lift profession. posted
One of the world's largest cranes set a new world lifting record, lifting 36,000 metric tonnes!
Ruud van Sprundel: In 30 lifts combined yes
Bjørnar Berg: There is no crane lifting 36000 mT in one lift. The biggest shorebased crane is Taizun, lifting 20000 mt, and the biggest offshore crane is the 12000 mT crane on the chinese vessel Zhen Hua 30.
Edso Sluijsmans: there are a lot of cranes with more capacity. Mammoet/ALE PTC240 240.000 tm

Paul Anderson: That is EBR shipyard in San Jose de North, Rio Grande Brazil, lifting topside modules onto an FPSO, possibly Modec vessel that was in the yard for integration around 2021 or 2022. I was in the yard in 2016 working on FPSO P74, using similar ring crane, Module weight ranged between 2000 to 4200 tonnes, crane counterbalanced with sand filled containers which are the containers actually used to transport the crane to site.

[Another comment explained that after they build one side, they flip the ship around and build the other side.]

Omitting adjectives such as "combined" is a serious error.

Ruud van Sprundel commented on the 36k mt post

Paul Krueger commented on the 36k mt post above
For those who like a little more detail, this was in Brazil and the owner is ALE's and the crane is a Kobelco SK350.

Christian Oseguera: Paul Krueger ALE doesn't exist anymore. They got bought by Mammoet.

Adavid added two comments to the 36k mt post with the text: "This sk 350 is good for 5k tonn."

[I've seen another source that also rates the SK350 at 5,000 tons.]

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Jason Woods commented on the 36k mt post above
2012 lifting triple Coker derricks.

Johnny Stagg commented on the 36k mt post above
Currently [Jan 16, 2024] in argentia NL

May 2024:

Big Engine posted
Amazing! AL.SK350 built by ALE and said to be the world’s largest capacity land based crane, has been rigged for the first time and load tested 5000 tons 💪

Neal Hodges: I estimate at LEAST a million bucks to retrofit and get it up to lift capabilities. As a retired operator I'd have liked that money go to wages and not a vanity project!

Mammoet posted

With the #SK6000 currently under construction, we're looking back at some of the biggest projects executed by our SK cranes around the world.

Pictured here is the #SK350 configured with 125m main boom and 95m jib to support assembly of an offshore expansion project in Newfoundland, Canada.

The SK350 minimized disruption to the site as it lifted from one location, away from other ongoing activities.

Cumberland Narrows Mountain Scene in 1970 near Narrows Park, MD

(Satellite)

There is so much track and bridges in this scene that it looks like something a model railroader would build.

Steve Larrick posted
Eckhart Junction in the Cumberland Narrows, 1970. The masonry arch bridge over Wills Creek was built by the Maryland Mining Company in 1860 as part of the Eckhart Branch Railroad. Beyond the masonry bridge is a viaduct for the State Line Branch
Dennis DeBruler I assume this is now the CSX/B&O on the left and the Great Allegheny Passage Trail/Western Maryland on the right.

Western Maryland Scenic Railroad posted

We are less than a week away from the start of our regular Frostburg Flyer Trains to Frostburg! 

Running Thursday - Sunday, passengers can take our 11:30am train to Frostburg, enjoy a 90 minute layover shopping around town, and then enjoy the beautiful mountain views as you travel back to Cumberland.

Each train features several different classes of service: Dome class and Lounge class for those 21 and older, with a private bar, tour guide attendant and comfortable seating. Families can enjoy an open air coach, to get the full experience, or regular climate controlled coaches.

See our full train schedule at https://wmsr.com/western-maryland-train-schedule

Mike Harazim: We already missed #1309 so much.

Street View, Sep 2019

It still uses a cut-stone pier.

Street View, Sep 2019

Goethals Bridges over Arthur Kill at Staten Island NY, NY

The satellite image still has just the old bridge. So I have captured a "before" image. I'll have to check back in a couple of years to get an "after" image.
We seem to have lost another truss bridge to two cable stay bridges.
1928: (Bridge Hunter, Historic Bridges, HAER; Dave Frieder Photos)
2017+2018: (no Bridge Hunter)

(Update: RoadTraffic-Technology article   The 1,983' main span of the new bridge has a clearance of 138'.)

3D Satellite

Photo from HAER NY,43-___,2--1 from ny1806
[Note the long approaches to get the needed 140' shipping clearance are significant bridge structures in themselves. Actually, the clearance mid-span is 138.5' minimum @ MHW. [panynj-facts] I assume MHW is Mean High Water.]

Bridges Now and Then posted
"The Goethals Bridge, above in 1927, and its twin, the Outerbridge Crossing, high-level cantilever bridges with arched concrete piers supporting the steel trusses of the main river bridge were constructed simultaneously and opened in a dual dedication June 20, 1928." (Staten Island Advance Archive)

Dave Frieder: Pronounced Go-Thuls. Original name was the Elizabeth-Howland Hook bridge. Renamed Goethals bridge before it opened to traffic.

I can't believe it, the Port Authority of NY & NJ has broken access to their rendered image. This is the first time I have seen an organization that is trying to sell a bridge project not allow their renderings of that project to be copied. Fortunately, very few people read these notes. So I doubt if anyone who cares will see this copy. Note that the cables help hold up part of the long approaches that such a high-clearance bridge needs.

Port Authority of NY & NJ from panynj-gallery

Construction began in 2014. A gallery of 18 images of the building of the new bridge.

Aug 2017 Street View

Alexjandro Cruz, Feb 2020

Webcam Mar 13, 2018

Traffic was switched from the old truss to the first cable stay bridge during the weekend of June 10, 2017. The first photo in New Goethals Bridge opens shows the second cable stay bridge is well underway. So they did not have to get rid of the old one to make room for the second cablestay bridge.

As one would expect with a cantilevered truss, the suspended span was lowered to a barge.

Webcam Jan 15, 2018
[You can see the installation of the hydraulic jacks at both ends of the suspended span.]

Webcam  Jan 16, 2018
[The span has been lowered.]

Photos from the perspective of crane workers and/or fans.

Ryan Spirito posted
12000 and mlc300 top view
Rob McGrady I would love to take an aerial shot from the helicopter just to show how many cranes we have in that small area lol
[A comment observed how the shot shows how long the tracks are on the 12000 that is straight down.]

Keith Eller posted three photos.
Tito Arevalo The Goethals Bridge

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Ben StalveyGroup Admin MLC 300 in series #?

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Ryan Spirito posted
Last two pieces of the gothels bridge of main span mlc 300

Jeff Boyce commented on Ryan's posting

RoadBridges
"Because the site is just a few miles from Newark Liberty International Airport, maximum tower height was 272 ft, which drove unusually shallow cable angles. A unique anchor box shaped like a saddle allowed the cables to be stacked more tightly than a traditional anchor box, increasing the stay angles. It also allowed for the anchor boxes to be placed on the outside facing the towers, which allowed Parsons to keep the profiles for the towers slender.
'None of the steel fabricators would even bid on it until we printed a 3-D model,' Seth Condell, design manager for Parsons, told Roads & Bridges."

Screenshot of timelapse @ 1:40
After a four-year construction process, the new Goethals Bridge linking New York and New Jersey is officially open. The new $1.5 billion twin-span cable-stayed bridge replaces the original bridge built in 1928. The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey and design-build team Kiewit-Weeks-Massman, AJV relied on EarthCam’s panoramic cameras and portable Mobile TrailerCam solution to document the complex process, which can been seen with EarthCam’s new 4K construction time-lapse movie.

safe_image for New Goethals Bridge Set to Open to Traffic on Monday [posted May 21, 2018]

Both spans of the new Goethals Bridge that connects Elizabeth, NJ, and Staten Island, NY, are now open. Late Sunday evening, the westbound bridge opened to traffic. The eastbound bridge has been in service since June 2017.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said: “The completion and opening of the second span of the Goethals Bridge project represents one of the most important infrastructure enhancements undertaken in the New Jersey-New York metro region in more than eight decades.”

Congratulations to our project team and joint venture partners for their hard work on this project.

[The towers were dirty before the bridge was done being built?]

safe_image for Goethals Bridge: ENR New York's Project of the Year [paycount]
Our Goethals Bridge Replacement project was named ENR New York's Project of the Year. Congratulations to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the entire project team.
[The article describes how they handled the tower height limit of 272' and the requirement that they slant outwards. The design anticipates adding a mass transit lane in the middle between the two spans.]

Massman's project web page contains five photos with the comment:

This project for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is part of a 40-year, $1.5 billion design-build-finance-operate-maintain contract. The joint venture will design and build the project and turn it over to the developers in early 2018 for them to operate and maintain the structures for the remaining 40 year term. The existing bridge, which was built in 1928, was the Port Authority’s first bi-state project and is named after Major General George Goethals; a builder of the Panama Canal and first consulting engineer for the Port. The new 1.4 mile long twin structures, with their 950-foot long main spans over the Arthur Kill tidal strait, will carry three lanes of traffic each way between Staten Island, New York and the City of Elizabeth, New Jersey. This project will provide pedestrian and bicycle access for a safe, scenic passageway as well as contain state-of-the-art smart bridge technology for improved incident response times. The twin structures are also designed to allow for future mass-transit lanes between the bridges when needed in the future.

Project Awards:

2018 Engineering News Record (ENR) New York's Best Project Award - Highway and Bridges & Excellence in Safety

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LC-DIG-highsm- 45371
Credit line: Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
Carol M. Highsmith's photographs are in the public domain.

(new window)

Time-lapse bridge construction:

2:49 video

Lost/PTC(Rock Island)/P&PT 1900 Bridge over Illinois River at Pekin, IL

(Bridge Hunter, Satellite)

PTC = Peoria Terminal Company was a subsidiary of the Rock Island
P&PT = Peoria & Pekin Terminal, an interurban

For information on the six Illinois River bridges that were and are in the Pekin area, see Lost Bridges over Illinois River in Pekin, IL.

It connected with the Big4/P&E+Santa Fe Yard in Pekin.

Roger Kujawa posted
[Comments indicate this 1907 postcard shows the Peoria Railway Terminal Bridge.]

It was hit by barges more than once. After an allision by a barge in 1973, it was abandoned and dismantled in 1974 (or 1975 depending on source).

Over the decades, the Terminal Bridge was struck several times by barges. Among the final collisions was one in the early 1970s that left the swingspan drooping sadly into the river. No longer usable or needed, a few years later the bridge finally was spectacularly dynamited and its steel ruins hauled away as preparations began for the construction of the new Pekin bridge. [PekinTimes]

1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP, the north bridge

Photo from FromTheHistoryRoom

You can see the east side of the swing span on the left side of the road bridge opening:

BridgeHunter, Bridge in 1929/30   Photo taken by Art Kistler, IDOT
[The lift bridge was a road bridge. The lift span is up while the swing span is closed because the tug must be helping with the construction of the new lift bridge.]

Bruce Emmons posted the question: "Does any one have a picture of the swing bridge that was in Pekin, Il that crossed the Illinois river?"

Paul Bourjaily commented
This might be what you're looking for....(photographer unknown).

Bruce Emmons posted a request for pictures of this bridge. Several comments on that posting are of interest.
David JordanDavid and 4 others manage the membership and moderators, settings and posts for Peoria Illinois Railroads Trains & Shortlines. Bruce Emmons Probably the Peoria Terminal Company (PTCo) bridge built by interurban Peoria & Pekin Terminal in 1900. It was located north of and alongside the old Pekin Bridge (opened in 1929). In early 1973, floodwaters damaged the bridge and PTCo parent Rock Island decided to seek trackage rights on the Peoria & Pekin Union Railway (Iowa Jct. to Pekin via East Peoria and Wesley Jct.) rather than repair the bridge. This arrangement lasted until the Rock Island was forced to shutdown at the end of March 1980. 

In February 1974, a towboat with six barges hit the bridge's superstructure but the damage wasn't yet a problem for river traffic. That changed when a tow of six grain barges hit the structure in April of that year. The Interstate Commerce Commission approved the bridge's abandonment around June 30 or July 1 and dismantling began July 23. Two spans were removed August 2, 1974 by explosives. Eight piers on the river bed were removed over the next two months. 

I have no photos, but I've seen some in Paul Stringham's Peoria Railway Terrminal article in Spring 2002 issue of THE FLYER. John Stell Do you have any?

John Stell I do not have any photos of the bridge. Max Wade was the bridgetender. To get onto the bridge he walked out on the old Route 9 lift bridge. He climbed over the side onto a wood walkway to walk out to the open railroad bridge. One day the B&B gang lubed the bridge and spilled some grease on walk. That night Max slipped and fell in the river. He came in the depot cold and wet. I called agent and he came down but Max refused to go for treatment. He said it was a good thing he was a frogman in the Navy.

eBook

eBook

Roger Kujawa posted photos that include the two abutments as the only remaining remnants with the comment:

The Rock Island owned a subsidiary called the Peoria Terminal Company which served numerous industries in the Peoria Pekin, Illinois Area. The PT was originally the Peoria Railway Terminal an interurban line with steam for freight and electric cars for passengers. They had a bridge across the Illinois River in Pekin build in 1900. The 679 foot bridge was hit by tow boats many times until put out of service in 1973. The entire bridge was removed later. The Rock Island's Peoria Terminal used trackage right and the bridge of the Peoria & Pekin Union (another local switching line) to connect Peoria and Pekin. Only the end abutments remain from the bridge. They are just north of the current highway bridge.

John Woodrow posted
on a old postcard that was given to me Pekin bridge the year????
David Jordan The upper bridge is likely the bridge completed by interurban Peoria & Pekin Terminal in 1900. The lower bridge must be the original road bridge that was replaced in 1929 by a lift bridge (which was grade-separated from the railroad tracks).Paul Brewer I am not sure when the photo was taken, but the date on the letter on the back of this copy of the card appears to be 1907.https://www.cardcow.com/34342/river-scene-pekin-illinois/
Chip Gay The road bridge was a pain in the arse old family friend of my grandma's from Glasford rip she told us being a child In the family buggy and the bridge was too low and would often be flooded.

I'm flattered that a group admin, Roger Kujawa, shared a link to these notes