Page 3rd Cover: of Marine News Magazine (June 2019)

29 4th Cover

MARINE CRANES

Exceptional (Market)

Reach Lifts a

Crane Retro? t to Success

T e New York State Canal System,

Advance Marine and MelCal Cranes all enjoy a reputation for versatile applications in challenging conditions.

It’s no wonder that their recent deal to replace an aging maintenance crane was also a similarly good f t.

By Joseph Keefe hen Advance Marine recently delivered a telescopic slightly greater reach and lifting capacity, Advance Marine, boom crane to New York State Canals, the decision in this case, made sure that this crane was ? t-for-purpose.

W regarding which type and brand of crane to select wasn’t made in a vacuum, nor was it made lightly. That’s NUTS & BOLTS because commercial utilization of America’s original super- Self-contained, with a 4 cylinder turbocharged CAT highway – the Erie Canal – is on the rise again. The New diesel engine. Importantly, the CAT diesel complies with

York State Canal System is a 524-mile long, commercially U.S. EPA Tier 4 Final, EU Stage IIIB environmental stan- viable waterway connecting the Hudson River with the dards. The new crane has an auxiliary winch that oper-

Great Lakes, Finger Lakes, and Lake Champlain. Today, the ates the clamshell (The main winch lifts the clamshell; the

Canal System is a viable artery for the movement of bulk and auxiliary winch opens it), and is also man rated for lifting project cargo – but, not unless it can be properly maintained. a work basket. Maximum outreach is an impressive 45 feet

The Melcal model TL75T2M telescopic boom crane, with a capacity of 7,900 pounds, and the working capacity delivered by Melcal’s exclusive U.S. representative, Wilm- at 25 feet is 15,000 pounds.

ington, Delaware-based Advance Marine, is a replacement Designed to ABS rules, the crane therefore has the re- for an old crane on one of their barges. Intended to be quired excess capacity, redundant braking, load sensing used for canal maintenance, including debris removal, and load limiting for operations in personnel lift mode. such as trees and other ? oating (or not ? oating) debris, Beyond those impressive features, the crane has a special some dredging with a clamshell bucket, and servicing of boom tip to deal with side loading, and provides protec- lock equipment, it had to robust, reliable and most im- tion against collisions with trees and/or bridges for the portantly – versatile. That’s important because the crane outer boom, winches, and operator’s station.

will also be used for buoy removal and placement. With a According to Advance Marine’s Jake DuPont, very little

June 2019 30 MN