Liebherr 150 EC-B Flat-Top crane on the Zugspitze - construction crane on Germany's highest peak ready for use

The 150 EC-B 6 Litronic Flat-Top crane from Liebherr is being used to build the new Eibsee cable car. At an altitude of 2,975m the crane is now the highest building site in Germany. The 150 EC-B is operated with a radius of 50m and a hook height of 18.6m. The crane was specially configured for this job to enable it to withstand the enormously high wind speeds of up to 280km/h and the low temperatures. Liebherr tower cranes are designed as standard to withstand temperatures down to -25°C.

The new Eibsee cable car is designed to transport visitors from the Sonnalpin midway station to the summit of the Zugspitze. The cable car will have the highest steel support in the world, measuring 127m. Another record is that no other cable car in the world manages to overcome a greater distance than the 3,207m from the support to the summit station.

With such a challenging site location, the erection of the crane required perfect teamwork because the whole situation meant that the erection work had to involve a helicopter. As a result of its modular design, dismantling the crane into components weighing no more than 3.4 tonnes was an easy job. This meant that they were tailored to the maximum load capacity of the helicopter.

The cooperation between and professional preparation of the various teams meant that the helicopter erection process of the Flat-Top crane went extremely smoothly. The crane was prepared for the special erection process when it arrived at the site. It was transported to the Sonnalpin midway station in components on the rack railway. From there the Heliswiss pilots flew the components up to the summit station where the crane was then erected from the air with the help of Liebherr erection specialists.

Geo-Alpinbau GmbH based in Mils in Tirol deliberately chooses to use Liebherr's many years of experience for complicated jobs of this nature. The planning work for the crane erection was carried out in close collaboration with Martin Hurm, Project Manager for the construction of the new Eibsee cable car, Bayerische Zugspitzbahn Bergbahn AG and Michael Weißschädel, Project Manager at the Tower Crane Solutions Department in Biberach.