26.01.2007

New wind turbine record

A new record has been set for wind turbine height after a windmill with a 160 metre hub height was erected in late 2006. The turbine, which is located near Cottbus, Germany, has a height to the tip of its blades of 205 metres.

The windmill was erected by a 750 tonne Liebherr LG 1750 eight axle lattice boom mobile crane. On the day of the lift the lattice boom of the LG 1750 could be seen for miles around, and attracted plenty of spectators.
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The worlds largest wind turbine to date assembled with a Liebherr LG1750

The crane which is owned by Nolte crane rental of Hanover, was set up with almost 180 metres of tip height, requiring 46 trucks for the delivery. The heavy lift crane rigged with a 91 metre main boom, first of all placed the segments of the windmills' tower, some of which weighed as much as 100 tonnes each.

A 77 metre luffing jib was then added to the boom in order to place the upper tower segments. The tower alone contained 350 tonnes of steel.

The same boom and jib configuration was used to lift the 2.5 megawatt turbine house into position on top of the tower. The total load with hooks and lifting tackle exceeded 61 tonnes and was lifted At a radius of 35 metres.

In order to reach the highest point required to assemble the rotor hub and the 111-tonnes of blades, the LG 1750 had to be reconfigured with an additonal seven metres of luffing jib, taking it to 84 metres. This was the first time that the crane had been rigged to such a height, providing a 174 metre hook height.


Crane and rigging specification:

Liebherr LG 1750 with SDBW boom system
- Main boom: 91 metres
- Lattice jib: 77 and then 84 metres
- Derrick boom: 31.5 metres
- Suspended counterweight: 70 tonnes
- Superstructure ballast: 220 tonnes
- Outrigger base16 x 16 metres