Expansion of Barcelona airport with duty cycle crawler cranes from Liebherr

Between February and August 2016, three duty cycle crawler cranes from Liebherr were involved in deep foundation work at the airport Barcelona-El Prat. With nearly 40 million passengers per annum, it is one of Europe’s most important hubs. Continuous improvements are being made to the airport infrastructure in order to cope with the increasing number of passengers. The work includes, among other things, the linking of the new airport to the suburban railway.

Tasks of the two new HS 8100 HD and the HS 873 HD, all equipped with mechanical slurry wall grabs, was the making of an access shaft for the later application of a tunnel casing machine; additionally, they had to erect support walls for the railway, which is partly underground. The total length of the slurry wall in this section was about 1,000m with depths up to 30m.

The machines worked in shifts, Monday to Friday from 06.00 to 24.00 hours. The two HS 8100 HD proved to be exceptionally efficient. According to the customer, their diesel consumption was up to 30 % less than that of a similar machine. This is achieved, above all, through the optimized hydraulic system.

Furthermore, both HS 8100 HD machines convinced with their modern and reliable safety concept. They were equipped with modified roof railings and ladders, as well as additional walkways. These are foldable making the machine extremely easy to transport.