Project details
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) purchased a J780PA.60 from the Crane Tech Solutions (CTS) / JASO Tower Cranes team. The acquisition is part of USCG’s Shiplift Expansion at its facility in Baltimore, Maryland. The overall project adds a third rail (area) that the USCG will use to rehabilitate ships. Upon completion, the expansion will increase its dry dock capacity by thirty percent (30%).
The tower crane requirements were free stand at least 100’, lift 60,000 pounds at 90’ in two-part line, a main boom of 180’, and a fly jib with a capacity of 20,000 pounds. The USCG procured the tower crane in an open competition among tower crane providers. They selected the JASO J780PA that CTS / JASO team proposed due to its technical specifications, and the value provided. The CTS / JASO team proposed the J780PA due to its ability to meet the contractual requirements, but also due to the JASO incorporating the latest technologies into the crane.
The USCG decided to add the JL25 personnel elevator to the contract with a capacity of 600lbs to provide their operators an easier trip up the crane.
The J780PA delivered has approximately 130’ height under the hook, 180’ main boom, 16.5’ fly jib, and will pick 90,000 pounds at 89’ exceeding the contractual requirements by almost 50%.
The crane arrived in Baltimore in 14 high cube containers and 1 flat rack. This is a testimony to the JASO engineers being mindful of transportation cost and minimizing the need for flat racks. For example, the upper and lower A frames (including the ladders and handrails) were shipped in one (1) 40’ high cube container.
The CTS/JASO team used Wing Enterprises to assist with the assembly of the crane. The erection took only 3 days from setting the first mast sections to reeving the main hoist and the fly jib. Frank Hegan, President of CTS, said that “the crane was surprisingly easy to assembly considering its size and complexity.”
The crane lifted its first load on July 3rd and the USCG continues to use it in its daily ship repair operations.
J780PA.60 crane details
This J780PA.60 is one of the largest electric luffing tower cranes on the market and JASO has sold the J780’s to various global markets. JASO designed and built this model to be the “best of breed” that incorporates the latest technologies. There are currently three different sub models that have various load charts. This shows the flexibility of the JASO engineers because they designed a platform that would lend itself to providing a more tailored crane. J780PA maximum load is 165,000 pound (75t) and the USCG model has a maximum capacity of 132,000 pounds (60t), both in three-part line.
The target markets are high rise construction, PPVC projects, shipbuilding (for example, the USCG project), and mining that require a luffing crane with a strong load chart.
JASO designed the crane mindful of shipping cost, assembly time, and ease of maintenance. The turntable (with A frame) weighs 56,100 pounds (25.5t), but this can be split reducing the load to 43,100 pounds (19.6t) and 13,000 pounds (5.9t). Further, the owner can assemble the main boom in two picks and more when required. The counter jib has two levels which reduces the counter jib to 31’ (9.5m) and makes the installation easier.
The crane comes with an auxiliary winch that aids the assembly, and doubles as the winch for the maintenance jib. This affords the maintenance team a crane to bring tools, equipment, and components up to the counter jib for repair or replacement.
Another solid feature is that the J780PA has two luffing ropes and two bridles. Many of the other luffing tower cranes of this size have one luffing rope and bridal. This provides for additional safety (should one rope fail) because one rope is sufficient to place the crane in a safe position before taking the crane out of service should one rope fail. CTS can attest to the ease of installation with this two-rope system.
The main hoist winch has two options – 110kW or 132kW. The USCG purchased the 110kW option due to the free-standing height. The maximum speed with single hoist line for the 132kW hoist is 525 fpm (160 m/min), while the 110kW is still fast at just under 400 fpm (121 m/min). However, the version that has a capacity of 82.5T (75t) has a 220kW hoist. The 220kW hoist is able to lift 6,600 pounds at a rate of 1,020 ft/min in single part line.
The J780PA now has a 16.5’ (5m) fly jib option. The USCG requested this feature during the proposal phase. CTS load tested the fly jib at more than 20,000 pounds (9t). The USCG mentioned that they see an excellent value in being able to use the fly jib option. The crane allows the operator to use both main hoist and fly jib (operator cannot operate both at the same time) on a single pick.
The main boom comes with a wind sail that helps minimize the weathervane radius (between 50’ and 100’ depending upon boom length and weather conditions). This is suitable place for owners to add the company logo or advertising.
Lastly, JASO designed a new tower section for this crane. It is compact, square leg, mono-block construction that measures 2.16m center to center (TSP20-5.6). As it uses the same system line as other JASO towers, it allows owners to use the TSP towers with other JASO towers to gain higher free-standing heights.
Orders are being taken!!