ATC-3275 and 120|HT lift silos at Kentucky asphalt plant

Two cranes, one plant

The site at Hinkle Contracting’s Natural Bridge Stone Co. in Stanton, Kentucky, is both a limestone quarry and a hot mix asphalt plant, supplying central and eastern Kentucky. The new ASTEC plant was installed to raise mix production, and American Industrial Contractors of Lexington took on the erection work.

Two Link-Belt machines handled the heavy components: a 275-ton ATC-3275 all terrain crane and a 120-ton 120|HT telescopic truck crane. The pair worked in tandem to lift several of the plant’s large elements into position, including silos and tanks.

Tandem picks on a live quarry

Tandem lifting is the standard answer for tall, slender components such as asphalt silos, where a single hook would leave the load in an unmanageable attitude during the pick. Using two cranes allows the component to be raised from horizontal on a trailer and rotated to vertical under control before it is landed on its foundation.

Photographs of the job show both machines rigged on a prepared concrete pad with a silo section suspended between them, being brought upright over its base. Working on an operating quarry adds the usual constraints of shared haul roads and live production alongside the erection sequence.

Link-Belt has not released the individual component weights, lift radii or the duration of the erection programme.