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American Crane & Equipment Completes Boeing 787 Dreamliner Crane System

American Crane & Equipment Corporation, a manufacturer of overhead electric cranes and hoists, has completed installation of a custom Underhung Crane System built for the new Boeing Manufacturing facility in Charleston, South Carolina. This project included the design, manufacture and installation of an 80 ton capacity custom Underhung Crane System with multiple bridges.

Douglassville, PA — American Crane & Equipment Corporation, a manufacturer of overhead electric cranes and hoists, has completed installation of a custom Underhung Crane System built for the new Boeing Manufacturing facility in Charleston, South Carolina.

American Crane is located in Douglassville, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. American Crane is a custom crane supplier specializing in engineered products for aerospace, commercial nuclear, DOE nuclear, naval facilities, and automated systems, and is known for tackling unique "critical lift" applications. American Crane also performs repairs, inspections, retrofits, and on-site maintenance as well as the sale of spare parts and standard equipment.

This project included the design, manufacture and installation of an 80 ton capacity custom Underhung Crane System with multiple bridges. These bridges can be interlocked to allow the trolley (carrier) to be transferred from one bridge to another throughout the system. The 460 x 1000 ft. building is designed without columns, which allows 100% accessibility from the crane system.

Project Highlights:

  • Crane system has 14 bridges and three (3) trolleys (carriers).
  • The system has three (3) trolleys (carriers) that have the ability to rotate +/- 180 degrees. Each trolley (carrier) features two (2) single girder cranes supporting two (2) hoists each, for a total of four (4) 10 ton hoists. Each hoist has its own trolley allowing for movement of the hoist in all directions.
  • The controls system has infinite position possibilities providing precision control. This allows lifting objects of various shapes with difficult centers of gravity.
  • The operator chair is located in the carrier, complete with color touch screen, providing critical real-time information about the crane systems to the operators.
  • Runway contains 3.6 million pounds of steel.
  • The system includes 1,216 bridge wheels.
  • Total length of flexible cables for the bridge and three (3) carriers: 34,200 ft (over 6 miles).
  • Complex installation was completed by assembling the bridge on the floor. A custom lifting device aided in lift actions and also served as a transport structure.

Learn more about the project at www.americancrane.com.

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