Press releases | 12/19/2022 Mònica is back home: LTC 1050-3.1 mounts restored bell in La Seu Vella Cathedral

  • A Liebherr LTC 1050-3.1 compact crane from Grúas Minguella lifted the Mònica bell to a height of 40 metres with a radius of 15 metres
  • Mònica had to be restored due to a crack that could have led to the bell breaking apart
  • The biggest challenge for the crane – navigating through stone arches only three metres high

She rings again! Eight years ago, Mònica, one of the two original 15th century bells at La Seu Vella Cathedral in Lérida (Catalonia), was dismantled for restoration at the specialist workshop of Grassmayr in Innsbruck (Austria). A Liebherr LTC 1050-3.1 compact crane owned by the Spanish crane company Grúas Minguella has now lifted it back into its former position.

La Seu Vella Cathedral is difficult for mobile cranes to reach due to its low stone arches.

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A Liebherr mobile crane LTC 1050-3.1 lifts the 1.5-tonne Mònica bell of Lérida Cathedral to a height of 40 metres.

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The Mònica bell, first installed in the bell tower of La Seu Vella Cathedral in 1486, is back home.

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To get to the construction site, the LTC 1050-3.1 had to pass through two stone arches that were only three metres high.

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25 years ago, a Liebherr LTM 1030 mobile crane from Grúas Minguella was used for maintenance work on the Bell Mònica.

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The contract to mount the restored bell in its original position was awarded to the crane specialist Grúas Minguella in Lérida. The company's Liebherr LTC 1050-3.1 mobile crane took on this difficult task and lifted the 1.5-tonne bell, which is an essential part of the bell tower of Lérida Cathedral and also part of the historical heritage of "La Seu Vella", to a height of 40 metres with a radius of 15 metres.

Challenge of work route

"One of the main challenges for this manoeuvre was providing access to the work site for the crane. In order to get to the construction site, the LTC 1050-3.1 had to pass through two stone arches that are only three metres high and offer extremely little space," says Tomás Minguella, Managing Director of Grúas Minguella. The Liebherr LTC 1050-3.1 compact crane was a good choice for this job due to its compact dimensions, especially in terms of its height and manoeuvrability. "To ensure the highest level of safety due to the historical value of the Mònica bell, we carried out a simulation of the lift in advance and worked out a special lifting plan," Minguella continues.

528 years at home - return after eight years

On 7 May 2014, Mònica left her location for the first time since her installation in 1486. Due to a crack that could have caused it to break apart, the bell was transported to the Grassmayr workshop in Innsbruck (Austria) for repair. It wasn't until eight years later that it was finally returned to the top of the bell tower due to various bureaucratic hurdles – the tower is a listed building. "For Grúas Minguella, it was a great honour to be able to support this project, because it allowed us to contribute to the history and development of our region," concludes Tomás Minguella.

Grúas Minguella already active at La Seu Vella 25 years ago

Raising the bell was not Grúas Minguella's first assignment at La Seu Vella Cathedral. Twenty-five years ago, the company used a Liebherr LTM 1030 mobile crane to carry out maintenance work on Mònica. However, since the boom of the LTM 1030 was shorter than that of the current LTC 1050-3.1, the 30-tonne crane was supported on stacked timber at the time, which allowed it to be raised by almost two metres to reach the required height.

Grúas Minguella has relied on Liebherr machines since day one due to the latter's high-quality products and excellent customer service. The company has a fleet of 13 cranes, all built by Liebherr. Grúas Minguella was also one of the first companies in Spain to procure the Liebherr LTM 1450-8.1 mobile crane. The 450-tonne machine is currently the largest crane in its fleet.

Downloads

Here you will find the press release and images for download.

Presseinformation Deutsch DOCX (709 KB)
Presseinformation Deutsch PDF (624 KB)
Press release English DOCX (3.1 MB)
Press release English PDF (478 KB)

Additional links

Mobile crane LTC 1050-3.1

Contact

Wolfgang Beringer

Marketing and Communication


Liebherr-Werk Ehingen GmbH

Dr.-Hans-Liebherr-Straße 1

89584 Ehingen

Germany