What is red, can lift 400 tons and extend to 315 feet? It’s not a bird or a plane. It’s actually a crane! A mega crane, to be exact.
The water district dismantled this beauty of a crane on July 16, marking a major Phase 2 milestone of the Rinconada Water Treatment Plant Reliability Improvement Project. Plant construction is part of improvements the water district is making to ensure the water supply meets future needs.
Removing the crane means the end of some major construction. The mega crane, known as a Lattice Boom Crawler, flexed its muscles to help move thousands of cubic yards of concrete and tons of reinforced steel into place for the flocculation and sedimentation basins, ozone contactor and wash water recovery facility.
These highly mobile cranes can move along any terrain with an enormous lifting capacity. The arm of the crane, also known as the boom, is a lattice structure used to increase stability. There are 10 counterweights, each weighing up to 30,000 lbs.
It took a five-person crew two days to break down the crane and remove it from the water treatment plant. A second considerably smaller crane will remain at the facility for the project’s duration.
While the heavy lifting may be complete, contractors are now working to connect the water and chemical systems put in place by the crane.
Check back on the project blog for more information as the district continues to work away on the second phase of the project!
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