Construction (hi)stories: USA

Towering over the heart of Midtown Manhattan with a view of Central Park is the first building in our story: 53 West 53, also known as MoMA Expansion Tower. The residential construction next to the Museum of Modern Art incorporates three stories of the iconic museum. This leaves space for 145 luxury flats spread over the remaining 79 floors of Jean Novel’s architectural masterpiece. You won’t have to miss out on anything if you choose to move into the Big Apple’s 7th tallest building: apart from a restaurant and wine-tasting location, there’s even a private theater and a golf simulator to be found.

Construction work took four years and was finished in 2019. Two of Liebherr’s 710 HC-L 32/64 Litronic luffing jib cranes helped install 8,109 tons of reinforcing steel and 48,849 cubic yards of concrete to allow the building to rise 1,050 feet into the sky.

In 2019, construction of the guitar shaped Hard Rock Hotel & Casino expansion was finished. To achieve its iconic look, 32.5 tons of steel trusses were used to build the structure. The expansion added 638 luxury hotel rooms and suites in the guitar tower.

A Liebherr LR 1300 SX crawler crane was substantially involved in the project. At a maximum hoist height of 554 feet, the crane can load capacities of 331 tons – just what was needed at this particular job site. Untroubled by small spaces, the crane assisted the construction work effortlessly to help create the steel structure behind the Guitar Hotel’s shiny glass façade. It towers over the rest of the complex at 450 feet and there’s yet another peculiarity: every night, guests can enjoy a breathtaking light show.

In summer 2021, a new attraction will open its doors in Las Vegas: Resorts World, the most expensive building of its type in all of Sin City. Construction of the hotel and casino first started in 2015, making it the 10th Resorts World complex worldwide. The resort will feature a total of 3,500 luxury rooms and 117,000 square feet of gaming space in the casino. The project stems from a partnership between Resorts World and Hilton, two hospitality giants.

Five Liebherr 542 HC-L 18/36 tower cranes were involved in the construction process. These types of cranes are made for construction jobs at great heights as they offer high handling performance in the smallest of spaces. With hook heights of 686 feet, they were perfect for the construction of this resort complex with its dizzying altitude of 674 feet.

_{Copyright left photograph: © Daniel Lobo (Cut to size, usage according to Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en)}

If you want to get a glimpse of life in Ancient Roman times, Caesar’s Palace is the place to go. The hotel and casino first opened its doors to visitors in 1966 and is one of Las Vegas‘ biggest and best known landmarks. While there was only one tower at first, visitors can now enjoy their stay in 3,960 rooms spread across six towers. The hotel and entertainment complex offers its customers a wide range of entertainment possibilities such as a theater, live music and sports venues. A convention center of over 300,000 square feet is available for bookings and in the evening, visitors can spend their time at a casino that spreads over 4,500 square feet.

Construction of the Palace Tower Hotel was started in May 1995, aided by three Liebherr 550 HC Tower Cranes which belonged to Morrow Equipment. These cranes have final hook heights of 266 feet and can lift as much as 22 tons. They were vital for the completion of the construction project within the two years that followed.

Arthur Ashe Stadium was originally built in 1997 as a venue to host the US Open. To this day, it’s the biggest tennis stadium worldwide with more than 23,000 seats. However, weather conditions kept disrupting tennis games held at the stadium: the original construction lacked a roof, which made it susceptible to strong winds and rain. It was therefore decided in 2013 to add a roof to the venue.

The architects were faced with a challenge: the roof had to be attached to the existing construction, in which no such addition had been intended. In the end, the choice fell on a retractable roof that can be closed in as little as 5:42 minutes. A first expansion was finished in 2015 to provide optimal conditions for the US Open, with a Liebherr LR 11000 crawler crane and two LR 1600/2 installing the components of the steel roof. Work went on beyond this event, with the final parts put into place in 2017.

_{Copyright right photograph: © Ajay Suresh (Cut to size, usage according to Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en)}

United by success through five decades: 2020 marks Liebherr’s 50th anniversary in the USA. One of this year’s highlights was the expansion of the Group’s campus in Newport News, Virginia. The original building was constructed in 1970 but became too small over time. The new expansion offers space for Liebherr USA Co.’s new headquarters and includes an administrative building, a production and workshop facility, and a warehouse and parts distribution center. In total, 251,000 square feet were added to the company premises.

This extension allows for new possibilities in production for concrete pumps and significantly increases repair capacity for mobile and crawler cranes as well as construction equipment. Thanks to the newly available space, Liebherr USA, Co. can now store 50 percent more wares in their warehouse. Furthermore, there is also a new two story training center with designated equipment space and multiple classrooms to expand offerings in relation to training in-house dealer technicians and customers.