Top-class logistics: 25 Liebherr tower cranes at work on the Überseequartier district in Hamburg’s HafenCity area

The first crane was assembled at the beginning of 2019. Today, there are more than 20 cranes in simultaneous operation. The planning and implementation of this major project has required patience and exceptional levels of collaboration between all parties involved.

Concept, planning & project development

At the start of the project in 2018, Züblin’s site managers decided on equipping the entire construction site with machinery from a single manufacturer in order to meet logistical requirements. They opted for Liebherr and Feurig. Feurig has over 200 rental cranes of all sizes at its rental park in Hamburg. 15 well-qualified service technicians are available for assembly and service work.

14 individual buildings of various types are being built on the site, which covers 419,000 square metres. These range from an office tower and residential buildings to a cinema and a shopping centre. A cruise terminal is also included. The original idea was to allocate a crane to each building. However, as planning progressed, Liebherr’s project department, the Tower Crane Solutions, quickly identified that further cranes would be required to ensure a cost-effective handling capacity across the entire site. They calculated an average of one and a half cranes per building. With everyone working together, a clever crane concept involving a total of 25 Liebherr tower cranes was developed.

Having so many cranes in a relatively small area is challenging in terms of planning and logistics, as all cranes must be positioned so that each one is safe from colliding with others and with surrounding buildings. This is why the variously sized Liebherr tower cranes have hook heights ranging from just under 30 metres to over 90 metres. The crane types themselves range from 85 EC-B and 172 EC-B cranes to the 280 EC-H model; the majority are flat tops. Although it wasn’t initially prioritised for all 25 cranes to work on site at the same time, external circumstances and Covid-19 led to this being a reality. Tower Crane Solutions factored this possibility into the planning from the outset.

Long-term project support – Fast responses to unforeseeable structural changes

As a support specialist, Tower Crane Solutions was on hand to provide advice and assistance during the project’s planning phase and continues to do so throughout its implementation. An example of this support in action was when a chimney on a neighbouring property acquired scaffolding for its restoration, which extended the width of the chimney by around two metres. This had an impact on one of the tower cranes on site. Raising the height of the crane wasn’t possible for structural reasons. So, a shortening of the jib was calculated without further ado. This was the simplest, quickest and most cost-effective solution. On the recommendation of Tower Crane Solutions, the construction site was able to continue to run smoothly and efficiently.

“Cosmopolitan, open and urban”

According to the website of the German shopping centre group Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, the Überseequartier development is “cosmopolitan, open and urban – a place like no other”. Designed as an integrated district and a key element of Hamburg’s HafenCity, it connects places to live and work with attractive cultural offers and leisure facilities as well as innovative retail and entertainment concepts. A state-of-the-art cruise terminal is set to be an additional highlight. The end result will be a vibrant meeting place for both locals and tourists. Liebherr is proud of its significant contribution towards this future-oriented project.