Cranes

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How Do You Hoist 1350-Tonne Boats 73m In The Air?

1:30AM August 12, 2011 | Andrew Tarantola

Flat-bottomed barges have been hauled goods up the canals of Belgium for almost two centuries. But by the 1950s, barges had outgrown the series of locks and lifts along the Canal du Centre. This is the Belgians’ €160 million answer. More »

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World’s Biggest Basket Lift Is Taller Than All Of Notre Dame

1:37AM August 3, 2011 | Andrew Tarantola

There must be a good reason you’d be in an open air basket 112m above the ground. Besides hot-air ballooning, you might be standing in a Bronto S-112 HLA, repairing hunchback damage atop the world’s most famous cathedral. More »

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World’s Tallest Mobile Crane Is Also World’s Strongest

1:30AM July 19, 2011 | Andrew Tarantola

The blades of the world’s biggest wind turbine don’t just sprout from the impeller like leaves. And at 364 tons, you’ll need a pretty hefty crane – like the Liebherr LTM 11200-9.1. It’s is strong enough to lift three of them simultaneously. More »

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World’s Strongest Crawler Crane Can Raise The Roof Off A Stadium

1:30AM July 15, 2011 | Andrew Tarantola

Take, for example, Houston’s Reliant Stadium. Its 1000-ton roof takes several minutes to slide open and closed. Bah! With an LR13000 crawler crane on hand, that roof could pop off like a bottle cap. More »

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The Strongest Crane In The Works Out With Oil Rigs

2:00AM June 25, 2011 | Andrew Tarantola

20,000 metric tons. That’s 98 Statues of Liberty or 10,000 VW Beetles. But when you’re building the world’s largest oil rigs, your crane needs to be able to hold every last ounce. More »

Cars

This Is How You Lift A Sunken War Ship Off The Sea

11:00PM May 24, 2010 | Jesus Diaz

With huge chains and honking cranes, that’s how. Example: This Republic of Korea Navy’s corvette – half of it, actually – floating over the sea’s surface. And before you cry “PHOTOSHOP!”, check out the scene from a distance. More »

Cars

When Heavy Machines Crash They Make A Terrible Noise

4:40PM March 11, 2010 | Jesus Diaz

It doesn’t matter if the machine you are using is a massive crane or a tiny smartphone: You will always curse in the same way when it crashes. The deafening noise, however, won’t be the same. More »

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45,000kg Crane Smashes House In Half

5:40PM November 18, 2009 | Dan Nosowitz

This 45,000kg crane was removing a tree when the tree broke loose, sending the crane’s massive boom down onto the owner’s house, smashing it like a Play-Doh sculpture. Check out the carnage. More »

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This Is How Kiwis Trim The Top Of Their Hedges

8:40AM November 18, 2009 | Sean Fallon

New Zealanders do it with a crane people… with a crane. It makes perfect sense now. More »

Cars

Floating Cranes Are Unnatural, Physics-Defying Monstrosities

11:00AM November 29, 2008 | Wilson Rothman

Those coolhunters over at Oobject have uncovered another gem of engineering: the floating crane. Because the cranes require a massive superstructure and a relatively shallow hull, designers have to approach them pretty much the opposite way they approach typical ship design. They weigh many thousands of tons, and yet somehow manage to lift thousands of tons, too—engineering that truly borders on magic. There are two more insane crane shots below; feel free to hit up Oobject for all the crane porn you’ll ever need. [Oobject]

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