A Potain tower crane has been brought back to life in Pune, India, even though its owners thought it was beyond repair. The MCi 85 A suffered major structural damage after it endured 150 km/h winds during a cyclonic storm in Gurgaon, which is in the north India. But EnCORE, Manitowoc Crane Care’s remanufacturing service, repaired the 5 t capacity crane and it is now back in service, building another high-rise tower in Gurgaon.
The Potain crane was building the 56-storey Raheja Revanta Project when a huge storm struck. The crane’s owner, Arabtech Construction Pvt Ltd., feared it may have to be written off, but after speaking to Manitowoc the company realized it could be refurbished through EnCORE.
Gurdeep Singh, Manitowoc Crane Care country head India, said he was delighted that the extensive repairs were not only successful, but far more cost effective than buying a new crane.
“This was a huge repair and refurbishment job but we completed it in a timely manner and kept costs to a minimum – we are delighted with the result,” he says. “When major components are damaged, logistics costs increase because new parts need to be sourced from different factories. But the work was still far more cost effective than buying a new crane.”
The repair took 25 days. A team of eight EnCORE engineers performed structural repairs to the crane’s mast and cage, cathead, cabin, hoist winch and control panels, as well as replacing 50m of jib parts, and the counter jib assembly.
Before repair work could begin, the first challenge was transporting the crane 1,465 km from the customer’s job site in Gurgaon to Potain’s facility in Pune. The facility is one of a handful of places in the country that can carry out such extensive repair work. It features specialized workshops and equipment dedicated to Potain repairs.
