March 30, 2012 – For the past two months, gas pipeline construction in Texas has put one line of crawler and rough terrain cranes to the test. At two locations, one near Hallettsville and another near Cotulla, Sany America, Peachtree City, Ga., has fielded four machines in the Eagle Ford Shale.
Construction firm Willbros has rented the three 110 US ton SCC8100’s and one 65 US ton extra-long-boomed SRC865XL from Four Seasons Equipment, Inc., Sany’s dealer in Houston.
“These are new machines and the engineering is excellent,” said John Rester, superintendent on the White Kitchen lateral pipeline near Cotulla. “The SCC8100 is just the right size for this job, and these cranes are really strong machines,” he said in a telephone interview.
Wilbros’ engineers are busy building fingers for slug catchers along the pipeline, a job that requires assembling 42-inch, schedule 888 pipe to capture condensed gas as it moves down the pipeline.
“Because the pipe is so long, we are doing mostly tandem lifts, and these cranes have tremendous advantages over other pieces of equipment that we could be using,” Rester continued. “If you compare running these machines with other alternatives, such as large excavators, the gains in efficiency and the cost savings are quite large.”
Wilbros’ massive tubing weighs an impressive 400 pounds per foot, and comes in 40 foot sections. Once six or more sections are joined together, the weight totals 100,000 to 120,000 pounds, and the completed slug catcher holds roughly 500,000 gallons of fuel.
On the job site, veteran crane operators have also found the new Sany machines easy to use. “Even with the uneven terrain out here, the SANY cranes handle the weight well and they’re really fast coming down to pick up rigging,” said Derrick Moore, crane operator with Willbros.
Three years ago, SANY undertook the task of completely redesigning the company’s line of global crawler and rough terrain cranes. The process required starting with a clean-sheet and developing new cranes from the ground up.
“When we began working on the new crane designs, we looked at the machines already in the global markets, evaluated them and asked how we could make a better product than the competition,” said Kyle Nape, vice president of global sales and marketing at SANY America. “Then we asked crane operators what they would change about the machines they are used to running, and we incorporated their suggestions into our product,” he added.
In the end, the strategy has paid off for SANY America, and the company is continuing to gain market share in the US. The machines designed specifically for the global market have strongly boosted the company’s sales and bottom lines at dealerships such as Four Seasons Equipment.
“The team at SANY America has shown an incredible dedication to helping us serve our customers, and from day one they have shown their commitment to the US market,” said Rod Dundas, vice president of Four Seasons Equipment, Inc.
SANY’s line of global crawler and rough terrain cranes feature ergonomically redesigned cabs, booms engineered specifically for efficient transportation and global components. Most importantly, however, the global crane line has helped better serve the construction industry, and SANY’s R&D efforts are continuing to win the hearts and minds of equipment users.
In the words of Derrick Moore, “It’s my first time to run a SANY crane, and I am impressed with the power, speed and smoothness. This is a crane I would recommend to other operators.”
Lift & Access is part of the Catalyst Communications Network publication family.
