Panama Canal, Panama
Sarens has transported and installed 16 new lock doors at the Panama Canal. Land transports were carried out with SPMT’s and for the inland water transport Sarens used its own barges. Italian Geodis Wilson used STX vessels to carry out sea transport.

The new Panama lock doors have been designed in the Netherlands and are being produced by the Italian steel manufacturer Cimolai. In Febuary Sarens transported the doors from the Italian factory in San Giorgio di Nogaro to Trieste along the Aussa-Corno canal.

The vessel sailed to Panama in about 21 days. At the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal eight lock doors were unloaded with SPMT’s and stored. The other eight lock doors were be unloaded and reloaded onto a barge and brought one by one to the Pacific side of the Canal through the existing Panama locks. At the Pacific side Sarens did the load-in with SPMT’s to the storage area.

The locks are part of a new lock complex that is being built in a separate bypass next to the existing locks. The new system will result in an increased lockage capacity and a shorter maintenance time. The locks will be able to receive vessels up to 13,000 TEU’s, instead of 5,000 TEU’s for the old locks.

Las Bambas copper mine, Peru
German manufacturer Liebherr has installed its EC-H tower cranes in three of Peru’s largest copper mines.

Copper producer Xstrata Copper’s mines in Antapaccay and Las Bambas, which are being developed by Bechtel Chile, installed a Liebherr 630 EC-H 40. Newmont Mining’s Conga mine, which has Fluor Chile as the developer, installed a Liebherr 550 EC-H 20.

The 630 EC-H 40 is the biggest model in the company’s EC-H range and can lift a maximum of 40t, and 5.4t at the full length of its 80m boom. Whilst the 550 EC-H 20 has a maximum lift capacity of 20t and can lift 3.5t at the furthest reach of 81.5m.

The cranes will be used for central lifting operations in the construction of flotation cell lines, which separate the metal.

Henning Kohler, regional manager of Liebherr Chile, said: "The three units being installed at three new mines in Peru are a first for this country. The demand in all three cases was for a heavy-lifting crane with a long boom for diverse materials handling from a centralised position.

It was also necessary that the crane be able to work at a high altitude, in conditions that are frequently below freezing point during working hours, and that they are robust enough to be able to remain in situ for at least 20 years."

The German-built cranes were supplied by Liebherr Chile, and will remain in place for the next 20 years.

The Arena Corinthians, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Sao Paulo based rental firm São Paulo-based Locar supplied two Grove cranes on the construction of The Arena Corinthians stadium in Sao Paulo, Brazil for the 2014 World Cup. The Grove RT765E-2 rough-terrain crane and GMK6220L all-terrain crane have been on the Arena Corinthians job site, assisting in the stadium pre-assembly. They are unloading construction materials weighing as much as 34t and lifting them to heights of 33m in limited space and windy conditions.

Locur supplied the crane to Odebrecht, which is in charge of the stadium’s construction. The 60t Grove RT765E-2 has a 33.5m boom to the job site. It features four-wheel, multi-mode steering and the manufacturer said that its moderate size made it adept at navigating rough or cramped job sites. The GMK6220L has a six-section, full power 72m boom and a 220t capacity.

Comperj, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Saraiva Equipments used two Sany Brasil cranes, the 150t crawler SCC1500D and the 80t truck crane STC800, on the construction of the Petrochemical Complex of Rio de Janeiro (Comperj) located in the city of Itaboraí, Rio de Janeiro. The two cranes worked in front line of mounting a pipe rack.

The STC800 crane has been operating on site since October and regularly assists the transfer of metal structures mounting in the pipe rack. The other model SCC1500D has 150t lifting capacity, as well as an 81m boom configuration.

The Petrochemical Complex of Rio de Janeiro will produce petroleum and petrochemical products first and second generation.