Grove cranes overcome all challenges at job in Puerto Rico

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When a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, was looking for a crane rental company to discuss an expansion project, it laid out a challenge at the outset: The cranes would have to reach over the top of lengthy buildings while operating within tight quarters at the company’s existing facilities. Also, the company would have to work under an extremely tight schedule.

Forteza Equipo, a crane sales and rental supplier based in Bayamón, near San Juan, had the solution: four Grove cranes that could provide the ideal mix of reach and capacity capabilities.

“The project required the placing of a series of pipes in exact locations around the plant to secure proper installation with minimal disruption to ongoing production at the plant,” said Luis Forteza, president of the company. “We were also given a tight deadline. The entire project needed to be completed in about a month.”

Forteza Equipo solution was three Grove all-terrain cranes with booms of 80 m (262 ft) or longer: a GMK4115L, a GMK 5240 and a GMK6350. Additionally, the crane rental company added a RT760E rough-terrain crane to perform smaller tasks and aid in assembling the larger all-terrain models.

“We had to operate in such narrow spaces that even the setup of the cranes and ground preparation required extra planning beyond what is normally needed,” Forteza explained. “For example, we used the RT760E to place jib extensions on the GMKs, and that had to be done over operating machinery and pipe networks that could not be disrupted.”

To accommodate a variety of loads of up to 0.5 t (0.6 USt) at a range of lengths, the two largest all-terrain cranes, the GMK5240 and GMK6350, were fitted with counterweights weighting 70 t (77 USt) and 100 t (110 USt), and luffing jibs of 22 m (72 ft) and 43 m (141 ft), respectively. All lifts were kept at or under 70 percent of the total rated capacity of the cranes since the facility handles potentially hazardous fuels and other substances.

According to Forteza, the cranes performed exactly as expected, and the project was completed within the allotted schedule and budget. A Grove customer for more than 20 years, he attributes the soundness of the operation to the quality and reliability of the cranes and to Manitowoc’s technical support.

Founded in 1977, Forteza Equipo has become a major crane rental company in Puerto Rico, being the first in the Caribbean to purchase an all-terrain crane, the GMK5150B. When Manitowoc acquired Potain in 2001, the company bought several Potain tower cranes, and in 2007, the company bought a 450 t (550 USt) capacity GMK7450, making Forteza the owner of the largest all-terrain crane on the island.

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