Link-Belt 120RT Makes Construction Possible For New Overpass Bridges In Virginia

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The working area for the Link-Belt120RT is limited to the median between two existing bridges of Interstate 64. (Photo courtesy of Link-Belt.)

Link-Belt’s 120RT is playing a key role in construction of new overpass bridges near Interstate 64 and Airport Drive near Richmond, Virginia. Corman Kokosing Construction rented the Link-Belt 120RT to drive 50-foot (15.2-meter) PZ-27 steel sheets and 14-inch (35.56-centimeter) H-pile beams for the new overpass bridges, a job that’s performed in a working area limited to a median between two existing bridges. The $35 million project has a projected completion date in 2022; it will add an additional traffic lane in each direction and provide clearance for freight traffic.

Limited By Space, Not Lift Capacity

It’s Corman Kokosing operator Gerald Cubbage’s job to maneuver the 50-ft-long sheets on the space-constrained worksite, and using the 120RT, he’s able to place the pile at up to a 60-ft (18.2-m) radius.

“When you thread sheets into each other, you barely touch the crane lever, and then you speed up with it to get the sheet down once it’s threaded,” Cubbage says. “Then, I scope my boom in to get the large vibratory hammer that is stored next to the westbound bridge. I scope my boom out while lifting the hammer to the sheet ready to be vibrated into the ground.”

To drive the H-pile, Cubbage must hoist a 120-ft lead, as well as a diesel hammer weighing 28,000 pounds (12,700 kilograms). “It takes experience, along with a good eye to thread the sheeting or place the vibratory hammer clamps onto the upstanding sheets,” says Cubbage. “It also helps when you have a smooth machine.”

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Operator Gerald Cubbage does not have much room to maneuver the 50-foot-long sheets, placing sheet pile at up to a 60-ft. radius. (Photo courtesy of Link-Belt.)

More On The 120RT

Link-Belt equips the 120RT, a 120-ton (109-metric-ton) capacity rough-terrain crane, with a telescopic system featuring a six-section 38.3- to 164.1-ft (11.6- to 50-meter) pin and latch formed boom. The 120RT supports four boom extend modes, a feature Cubbage uses to ensure all the maneuvers are safe. An available two-piece 35- to 58-ft (10.7- to 17.7-m) on-board offsettable fly provides flexibility and range, and manually offsets at 0, 15, 30, and 45 degrees. Two 16-ft (4.9-m) lattice insert extensions provide a maximum tip height of 261.7 ft (79.8 m). Maximum winch line pull comes in at 23,632 pounds (105.1 kilonewtons), and Link-Belt include three slabs of hydraulically removable upper counterweight totaling 28,800 lbs (13,060 kg) as standard.

Source: Link-Belt