Late last year, crane manufacturer, Sarens, announced that their brand new – and enormous – crane, was ready to be sent off to it’s first job. After several months of prep, the Sarens SGC-250 has finally made it onto its intended jobsite and is ready to lift.
The SGC-250 stands an astonishing 820 feet at its tallest point, has a maximum lift capacity of 5500 US tons and a swing radius of over 900 feet. The behemoth will be a key component in the construction of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in South West England.
Nicknamed “Big Carl” after the father of Sarens company, Carl Sarens, the crane is expected to lift over 600 pre-fabricated panels over 4 years of construction, according to the company.
After being completed in Belgium, the crane was then broken up into 280 modules, according to the Construction Enquirer, and shipped to a nearby dock. It took a total of 10 weeks and at least 5 other cranes to safely rig the crane after it reached the site.
Big Carl’s first lift is expected to be in mid-September and one of the project’s significant lifts is scheduled in Spring of 2020.
You can check out some great footage of the crane on site in the video below:
