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FROM BRAIN WAVE TO HEAVYLIFT TERMINAL IN ONE YEAR

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All the materials were shipped onone cargo-bearing vessel. However, the port closest to theconstruction site, Güiria, only20 kilometers away did not havethe heavy-lift facilities required tooffload the materials from the vessel. That meant the vessel hadto sail to the nearest existingheavy-lift facilities 300 kilometers

further away, in Trinidad. Fromthere the shipments would needto be loaded onto several, smallerbarges and transported to theconstruction site, a time-consum-ing and expensive detour.

Mammoet came up with an alter-native that would solve this issue.It proposed using its brand-new

Mammoet Terminal Crane, theMTC-15, to turn the small fisher-man’s port of Güiria into a temporary heavy-lift terminal. Indoing so, the cargo-bearing vessel was able to sail straightthrough to Güiria and deliver thematerials only 20 kilometers fromthe construction site, saving Elec-nor and PVDSA a considerableamount of time and expense.

Brainchild of Mammoet’sThink TankThis was the first time the MTC-15 was put through its paces. TheMammoet Terminal Crane is thebrainchild of Mammoet’s ThinkTank, a team set up to monitor

Last year, Elecnor, a Spanish construction company inthe energy sector, started the construction of a new

power plant in Juan Manuel Valdez for Venezuela’s NationalOil Company, PDVSA. It had contracted Mammoet to deliverfour turbines, four generators and general cargo, measuringabout 40,000 freight tons altogether, from factories inEurope and the United States to the site in Güiria, Venezuela.

MTC-15: transformingany port into a heavy lift terminal

MTC-15 on its

maiden job in the

small port of

Guïria, Venezuala.

Paloma Frutos, Logisticsmanager Guïria Project,ELECNOR:“The opportunity to convert a smalland unsuitable terminal into a heavylift terminal with Mammoet’s MTC-15, saved us a lot of time and money,and made the transport route easierfrom port to site.

The two alternative routes from thecommercial port or a beach landingwere both less effective, more costlyand would have presented morerisks. We are very happy with ourequipment installed ahead ofschedule.”

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Simple sophisticationDown to the smallest detail, the design accommodatesworking at remote locations.

The crane’s ballast containers are fitted with the kindof bag used to ship wine in bulk and filled with water.Instead of using complicated gauges to measure thewater level in the ballast container, it is controlled bya simple, yet effective mechanism.

Inside the container, a small weight is placed on top ofthe water bag. The weight is connected to a counter-weight outside the container. Should the water levelinside the container drop, the counterweight willrise – signaling that the ballast needs to be checked.

Assembly back mast, ballast containers

and pendants. Installation winches.Assembly main boom.

market developments, anticipatenew customer demands and dev -elop innovative concepts and solu-tions. The members of the ThinkTank saw an increase in demandfor engineered heavy lifting andtransport in remote areas and loca-tions with limited infrastructure,leading to a growing need forequipment that combines easymobilization, low ground bearingpressure and high capacity.

For example, in developing coun-tries with a lack of infrastructure,the first order of business is tobuild power stations that will sup-port initiatives to industrialize. Thebiggest single piece of equipment

in a standard power plant weighsabout 500 tons. That means thereis a demand for heavy liftingcapacity. However, quays areoften small and situated in remoteareas. Their ground generally isnot capable of carrying objectswith a high ground bearing pres-sure like heavy lift cranes andtheir loads.

These insights prompted theThink Tank to come up with theidea to create a new terminalcrane for heavy cargo handlingthat would be able to convert anysmall port, quay or riverbank intoa heavy lift terminal. Theysketched out what would be

needed for a crane that wouldhelp Mammoet’s customersshorten, lighten, or otherwiseimprove their logistics chains.

Overall, the team was after acrane that could prove its worth,not just through what it could do,but through what it would makepossible for our customers-thealternatives it would open up forthem. They wanted a crane thatcould be the lynchpin to definenew logistics chains that aremore efficient and cost-effective.

The team took their idea to theengineers at Mammoet’s Solu-tions department to see whether

it could be built. The require-ments were clear: “We want todesign a crane that is easy andquick to mobilize and assembleand that will have a low ground-bearing pressure; a crane thatany port will be able to accommo-date without having to be rein-forced”. Sustainability was alsoan important factor; the teamwished to recycle componentsfrom Mammoet cranes that areno longer in use.

As one of the requirements wassimplicity, Mammoet also cameup with an innovation for the bal-last system. Sand was one possi-bility, but not universally available.But there was another optionthat’s to be found at any port:water. The team decided to fit theballast containers with the kind ofbag used to ship wine in bulk.

One year from sketch torealityFor five months, a total of twelveengineers worked on the detailedengineering. It took one year frominitial sketch to having the cranetested and ready for use.

The result is a crane that providesports throughout the world with600 tons off-loading capacity ona temporary basis. With a liftingcapacity of 600 tons at 25 metersand a load moment of 15,000metric tons, the MTC-15 is comparable to a 1,200 metric toncrawler crane.

Remote locations upriverNot only can the MTC-15 proveits value in sea ports, it can also

be used at remote locationsupriver. Depending on the riversystem, river heights can vary significantly. Most types of bargecan fit under bridges only whenthe rivers are not swollen-but witha hopper barge that is less of aconstraint. As the total heightincluding cargo is less, it is moresuitable for upriver transport, provided that a crane with heavylift capacity is available for unload-ing. The design of the MTC-15makes it possible to unload fromhopper barges without the needfor a heavy lift crane.

That effectively lengthens the periods when the MTC-15 can do

its work upriver. And forlocations far upriver, it meansin turn that the customer doesn’thave to think about lugging hundreds of tons of equipmentover poor roads, applying forroad permits, building bridgesor realizing other infrastructural improvements like road reinforce-ments.

The crane is booked solid up to2015, and a second one is nowbeing built. Its maiden job inGüiria passed off really well, andhelped make PVDSA’s task muchmore efficient and cost-effectivethan it would otherwise havebeen. n

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“The MTC-15 is fully bookedand we are now buildingan additional crane.”

Rotating crane into position,

without the ballast containers.

The MTC-15 provides ports through-out the world with 600 ton off-load-ing capacity on a temporary basis.

This minimizes the need for self-geared cargo vessels and eliminatesthe use of expensive floating cranes.With a lifting capacity of 600 tons at25 meters and a load moment of15,000 metric tons, the MTC-15 iscomparable to a 1,200 metric toncrawler crane.

Quick lifting and boom movementsare possible with a lifting speed of upto 1.5 m/min and four 22 ton winches.

The MTC-15 can be positioned closeto the quay edge without the needfor additional works, as the groundbearing pressure can be reduced toas little as 10 Te/m2.

Several factors contribute to the fast and economicalmobilization of the MTC-15n The crane is fully containerized, meaning it can be trans-

ported in only twenty-five standard 20 ft containers.n The use of water for ballasting.n Assembly time between seven and ten days.n The MTC is assembled and erected with the use of one

80 ton crane.

Technical Specificationsn Max. capacity: 600 ton.n Outreach @ 600 ton: 7–25 m.n Max. lifting speed: 1.5 m/min.n Max. boom up/down speed: 20 m/min.n Ground bearing pressure (standard arrangement):

– 10 Te/m2 @ counterweight arrangement.– 17 Te/m2 @ base frame arrangement.

n The ground bearing pressure can be further reducedwith additional load spreaders.

n No. of ballast containers: 20.n Max. weight of ballast containers: 520 ton.n Counterweight material: water (in water bags) or sand.n Crane to assemble the MTC-15: 80 ton mobile crane.

MTC-15 features