Eight Maxim cranes hold a 288-ton pipe string 30 feet up so it can be pulled beneath the Platte River
A 54-inch water main for the city of Lincoln, Nebraska had to be raised 30 feet and held at a precise angle while it was drawn under the Platte River. Maxim Crane Works put eight cranes on the pull.
Why the pipe had to fly
Lincoln began work on its $36 million Water 2.0 scheme in August 2025. The project links the city’s existing supply from the Platte River to a second source on the Missouri River, and part of that route runs beneath the Platte itself as a 54-inch main. Trenchless contractor Michels Trenchless, working for the city, needed the assembled pipe string presented to the bore at exactly the right angle — which meant supporting 288 tons of steel about 30 feet above ground along its length while it was pulled through.
Two crawlers and six all-terrains in line
Maxim staged eight cranes along the pipe: a Link-Belt TCC2500 telescopic crawler and a Link-Belt 298 lattice crawler, both 250 US ton machines, together with six all-terrain cranes — a Tadano ATF 220G-5 at 250 tons, a Liebherr LTM 1200-5.1 at 240 tons, a Liebherr LTM 1250-6.1 at 300 tons, a Grove GMK6400 at 450 tons and two 350-ton Grove GMK6300L units. Sizing the spread mattered as much as total capacity: each crane had to take a share of the load while keeping the string in a controlled curve, with no crane able to move independently of the others.
A lift with an audience
The work was done next to a river that supplies the city’s drinking water, so ecological disturbance and disruption to residents were constraints in their own right. Maxim reports the job was completed with zero incidents. Local interest was high enough that residents came out to watch.
“We have eight cranes lifting the pipe, going to go under the Platte River about approximately 30 foot off the ground in the center to get the right angle for it to be going under the river.”
— Jerrad Kinnison, Sales and Project Management, Maxim Crane Works
Michels project manager Mike Crawford said the depth of the rental fleet was the deciding factor. “Being able to pull from a large resource pool, I think is real critical for what we needed here,” he said. “We’re not, you know, experts in cranes. That’s why we bring Maxim in.”
Five contractors were involved on site. Planning ran for months before the cranes arrived.
Source: Maxim Crane Works — Photos: Maxim Crane Works
Project facts
- Location: Lincoln, Nebraska
- Scheme: Water 2.0, $36 million
- Task: 54-inch water main pulled under the Platte River
- Weight lifted: 576,000 lb (288 US tons)
- Lift height: approx. 30 ft at mid-span
- Cranes on site: 8 — 2 crawler, 6 all-terrain
- Largest crane: Grove GMK6400, 450 US tons
- Contractors: 5