Hanchang takes delivery of 2,500t Liebherr LR 12500-1.0

The LR 12500-1.0 was handed over by Liebherr Mobile Cranes Korea Ltd. and slots into Hanchang’s fleet as its new flagship for large-scale energy and industrial work. The company, one of South Korea’s leading heavy-crane and lifting service providers, works across shipbuilding, steel, petrochemicals, plant engineering, construction and wind energy, and has bought the machine to keep pace with components that keep getting bigger and heavier – above all in offshore wind and power-station construction.

Straight onto an offshore wind jacket job

The crane barely had time to gather dust. Shortly after handover it was rigged at an offshore wind construction site operated by SK Ocean Plant, where it is assembling jacket substructures – the steel foundations on which offshore turbines stand. Working in tandem with an LR 11350-P1800, the LR 12500-1.0 lifts and positions the heavy steel structures using a 126 m main boom, derrick system and floating counterweight, a configuration Liebherr says allows safe handling of large components even in confined workspaces.

“Thanks to its high performance and precision, the Liebherr crane is ideally suited to demanding large-scale projects. Furthermore, the expert technical support and reliable supply of spare parts provided by Liebherr are important advantages for us.”

— Representative, Hanchang Heavy Equipment

Between the LR 11350 and LR 13000

In Liebherr’s crawler range the LR 12500-1.0 sits between the LR 11350 and the LR 13000. Its defining feature is the HighPerformanceBoom: an unusually wide lattice boom that delivers the high load charts and connects to a special 4 m wide front section of the slewing platform, transported on a flatbed trailer. The 3.5 m wide rear section houses the two main hoists and two Liebherr six-cylinder in-line engines, fitted redundantly and producing a combined 800 kW (1,088 bhp).

Built with transport economics in mind

The 10 m sections of the wide boom fold down to an economical transport size, with a separate device stabilising each lattice section during assembly on site. The 25-tonne ballast slabs share the footprint of a 20 ft container and can be handled with a spreader, and most components stay within a 3.5 m transport width for worldwide deployment.

Boom configurations can be tailored to the job: the main boom reaches a maximum of 162 m, while a 100 m main boom with a 108 m luffing jib puts hook heights at around 200 m. A vessel-lifter configuration also equips the crane for lifting and setting large process columns in petrochemical plants.