Crane moves can have a significant impact on any wind turbine installation project. For the Marble River project, the layout of the turbines on this upper state New York site was such that it required (25) full crane breakdowns between the (75) V112 – 84m HH turbines. At the time Manitowoc had not developed the WA attachment for the M16000 (450t crawler crane), so the crane of choice was the M18000 (700t crawler crane). But when performing the engineered lift plans, the layout was very close and what made the M16000 not feasible was the tip height required with the OEM provided rigging. With OEM approval, Barnhart went to its design team and developed a nacelle lifting bar that swallowed the hook that had tight rigging for both the nacelle lift and very tight rigging to set the drive train. This brought the M16000 back into play. Now given the 25 full crane moves and knowing the M18000 took at least 2 days more per crane move, this value add saved the project team almost 2 months of project schedule. Innovative thought and crane expertise coupled with strong project planning and leadership led to a highly successful project and a delighted customer.
