The 180-ton ZCC1800H crawler crane from Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Co., Ltd. (Zoomlion), has ventured beyond its limits in the transmission tower installation project in Xigaze, Tibet Autonomous Region and installed more than 200 towers in locations where the elevation averages 4,800 meters across, no man’s land and swamps.
Due to the harsh construction environment, dangerous road conditions and strict environmental protection requirements, the hoisting tasks which were part of a power transmission and transformation project in Tibet were highly challenging. The high-altitude environment has low atmospheric pressure and temperatures, requiring the equipment to have the ability to start at low temperatures.
The ZCC1800H is the largest-tonnage crawler crane that operated in Xigaze which allowing activation at minus 15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit) without auxiliary assistance and at minus 35 degrees Celsius (minus 31 degrees Fahrenheit) with preheating.
With a main boom of 83 meters (272 feet) and a rated load lifting capacity of 27.8 tons, it could lift 70-meter-tall (230 feet) towers easily and thus improved the overall construction efficiency from 60 to 80 percent since April.
Li Hang, an operator of ZCC1800H in Xigaze, explained that the crawler crane has played a key role in speeding up the project construction.
“With relatively low ground pressure and small turning radius, the ZCC1800H can travel load without putting down the outriggers. The model also has a broader view for the operator,” said Li. “Its excellent maneuverability and stability, fast and high-precision hoisting speed allowed operators to complete the installation quickly after the boom lifts the tower.”
Launched in September 2019, this highest-altitude grid project in the world has been coined the “power heaven road” and will connect to 10 Tibetan counties, ending the days when the power grid of Ali Prefecture is isolated from the rest of Tibet, and solving power problems for an estimate of 380,000 people in the region.
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