A gargantuan lifting machine hailed as the world’s strongest land-based crane, has officially passed its safety tests with flying colours.
Mammoet’s SK6000 was put through three months of testing under the oversight of maritime classification services organisation, Lloyd’s Register; certifying the crane’s safe operations.
After reviewing the SK6000’s engineering design earlier during its development, Lloyd’s Register confirmed that the test programme was suitable to prove out its capacity charts. Testing was then carried out at Mammoet’s Westdorpe facility in the Netherlands.
A comprehensive functional test programme confirmed the crane operated to its specification, and to the strictest safety levels.
Next followed structural and stability testing, during which the SK6000 was subjected to a range of lift weights and conditions, proving that all components withstand 125% overload.
These tests covered the maximum extents of all load charts for the crane, for all main mast configurations, from shortest (127m) to longest (171m).
At its most strenuous, this process tested the crane to a maximum load moment of 520,000 tonne metres. This is well over one and a half times greater than the rated load moment of the SK350. which was previously the world’s strongest land-based crane.
A spokesperson for Mammoet said: “The SK6000 helps Mammoet’s customers across the energy sector to build on a larger scale than ever before, using modularized construction techniques to build in parallel and enhance the efficiency of assembly phases.
“As offshore wind components grow to reach stronger wind flows, the SK6000 ensures the future constructability of today’s planned wind farms. As the market develops, and lifting to heights beyond 171m is required, its jib can be fitted to enable lifts of 3,000t to 220 metres.”
In the nuclear sector, Mammoet says the SK6000 can reduce on-site construction time and increases safety by allowing larger mass components to be constructed in controlled conditions and assembled quickly.
The SK6000 will now be boomed down and containerized, ready for shipping to its first project in early 2025.
Read next: Waste project aims to make sustainable construction products
Are you a building professional? Sign up for a FREE MEMBERSHIP to upload news stories, post job vacancies, and connect with colleagues on our secure social feed.
