Zoomlion Crawler Crane Breaks World Record for Lifting

What does it take to break a world record? In the case of cranes, it often takes incredible lifting feats — whether to new heights, or new loads. In a recent project, industrial manufacturer Zoomlion (supplied in Australia by Gleason Cranes and Rental), broke two new records with their ZCC89000 crawler crane, demonstrating how cranes are forming a critical component of major projects worldwide.

Bigger Projects Require Bigger Cranes

In recent years, megascale projects have begun to take off in many parts of the world. It’s clear that in many areas, infrastructure needs need to be met — whether through the construction of renewable energy resources, the development of new transportation systems, or other considerable projects.

As a result of these increasingly large projects, technology has to be engineered to support the complexities of such projects. Cranes often have vastly different requirements — for example, a recent lift on a renewable energy project in China involved a crane that was required to lift a wind turbine blade that was 95m in length — almost twice the size of a typical wind turbine blade.

The Lift Requirements

As a part of Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical Co. Ltd.’s New Material Engineering Project, several critical components needed to be installed with the help of Zoomlion cranes. In this instance, three slurry bed reactors, essential to constructing a slurry bed residue hydrogenation plant, needed to be lifted and moved into position at a site in Zhejiang Province, approximately 180km southwest of Shanghai.

The crawler crane needed to be able to handle several significant requirements. Importantly, the crane needed to move slurry beds weighing more than 3,000 tons, and a height of more than 67 meters. Additionally, as this load was being moved, the crane needed to be able to use a counterweight to balance the load.

Working with the construction company, Zoomlion identified eight upgrades to the crawler crane to help them manage the load. This included modifications to work with the requirements of the project site, including being able to lift heavy weights in an area with limited movement.

Two Lifting Records Broken

Over six days in January 2024, a Zoomlion ZCC89000 lifted three reactors, the largest of which weighed 3,037 tonnes — the equivalent of lifting more than 1.2 fully loaded Olympic-sized swimming pools in the air.

This astonishing feat broke two records — related to the world record for single lifting weight and lifting speed. Once completed, the lift helped bring forward the project timeline by approximately two months.

Technical Considerations for Large Lifts

When conducting a large lift, the right crane must be selected. All factors must be considered — the load that needs to be lifted, the distance it needs to travel, and any other factors that impact a potential lift. For example, a crane poorly suited to a harsh operating environment may be at risk of tipping.

For reputable crane providers such as Gleason Cranes Sales and Rentals, stocking Zoomlion cranes means having the ability to provide not only a high-quality brand but also considerable post-sales support. When discussing a recent delivery of Zoomlion cranes, Sales Director Chris Logan noted that customers were consistently happy with the quality of the brand’s cranes.

As cranes continue to work with ever-increasing loads, it will be exciting to see how brands such as Zoomlion continue to enhance and evolve their crane technologies to handle increasingly large projects.

For more information on the range of Zoomlion Cranes available throughout Australia, Gleason Cranes and Rentals can be contacted on 1300 686 626.