Link-Belt TCC-2500 on billion-dollar Puerto Rico flood project

The contract, awarded to San Juan-based Ferrovial Construcción by the US Army Corps of Engineers’ Caribbean District, covers channel improvements along the Río Piedras river. The scheme is expected to deliver an average of USD 126 million a year in avoided flood damage and to support more than 10,000 local jobs, according to the Corps.

“This contract represents a significant step forward in our shared commitment to reduce flood risk for the people of San Juan. The Río Puerto Nuevo Project is a generational investment in public safety and resilience.”

— Col. Charles L. Decker, commander, USACE Caribbean District

Tandem lifts on soft ground

The TCC-2500’s core duties are foundation work: tandem-lifting drilled-shaft rebar cages weighing 50,000 lb (about 22.7 tonnes) and driving sheet piling. Delivered in April 2025, the telecrawler has already logged more than 2,500 working hours on the site, where ground conditions favour tracks over wheels.

“The TCC-2500 is suitable for this job because of its capacity. And since it is a crawler crane, I believe it is more versatile than other types of cranes for the particular ground conditions of the site. The long telescopic boom adapts to almost all of the project’s lifting operations: from lifting rebar cages to unloading and loading heavy materials and equipment, installing a temporary steel bridge, among others.”

— Jorge Nogales, project manager, Ferrovial Construcción

A decade of work ahead

The Río Puerto Nuevo flood-control programme is split into multiple phases that will run for roughly the next ten years, giving the telecrawler — and the wider lifting fleet on the job — a long-term assignment in the Puerto Rican capital.

Source: Link-Belt, published 11 August 2026 — Photos: Link-Belt