Get FinancingB&K Construction & Link-Belt 228 HSL, 138 HSL Crawler Cranes Help New Orleans Weather Future Storms
B&K Construction, a contractor working on flood control projects in Louisiana, recently started using a pair of Link-Belt lattice boom crawler cranes to work on storm channel improvements in New Orleans. The company employed a 130-ton (118-metric-ton) Link-Belt 228 HSL and an 80-t (72.6-mt) 138 HSL to drive sheeting and piling in a canal expansion in the Algiers neighborhood.
The Link-Belt 228 HSL is a 270-horsepower (201-kilowatt) crawler with a maximum tip height of 281 feet (85.6 meters) with a fixed jib. The crane can be transported in as few as five loads. Link-Belt’s 138 HSL has an equally powerful engine and a choice of tube and angle booms. Its max tip height with a fixed jib is 242 ft (73.8 m) with the tube boom or 203 ft (62 m) with the angle boom.
Sheeting & Piling
The canal expansion on the east bank of the Mississippi River is part of the Algiers Sub-Basin Plan. Roughly 4,100 ft (1,250 m) of the 25-ft (7.6-m)-wide earthen canal will be replaced with a 15-ft (4.6-m) wider, 5-ft (1.5-m) deeper channel lined with concrete. The project is estimated to be completed by fall 2025.
B&K is using the Link-Belt 138 HSL to install 70-ft (21.3-m)-tall sheeting on either side of the excavated channel. The walls will be reinforced with whalers, steel, and tubular struts.
The contractor is utilizing the Link-Belt 228 HSL to drive 66-ft (20-m)-long, 14-in. (35.6-cm) square, prestressed concrete piling for the canal’s foundation. The crane is rigged with a Vulcan hammer and leads weighing approximately 35,900 pounds (16,284 kilograms) at a 50-ft (15.2-m) radius. Both cranes are perched on timber mats at street level.
An Operator Weighs In
“I run a single line, and it’s got plenty of power,” says Mike Comeaux, operator of the 228 HSL. “The two speeds on the winches are great. The two stage up or down hydraulic on the winch—when you flip it over to the live drop with the break—they handle really well. The swing is smooth and really great.
“Sometimes I use the fine tuning for my drums when handling sheeting with the vibratory hammer,” Comeaux continues. “Sometimes we have to pick them both up when you are pulling sheet pile, and you have the vibratory on the main line with the whip line on the sheet pile. You want them to come up at the same time, so you can adjust it when you pull the levers so they both come together. One line does not outrun the other one. It’s a handy function.
“Now that I have mastered that throttle, it’s really great,” Comeaux says. “This big boy moves. He really moves well.”
Source: Link-Belt