Three Liebherr flat-tops crown Milan’s Bovisa gasometer revamp

The Campus Bovisa-Goccia-Gasometri project is converting two steel gasometers, built in the early twentieth century for gas storage, into university buildings of eight and six storeys with offices, laboratories and a gym. One gasometer is being partly dismantled, restored off site and reassembled; the other is being restored where it stands. Work started in October 2023 and is due to finish in early 2027.

Since March 2025, three Liebherr flat-top cranes have handled all lifting across the site – steel erection, facade assembly, concreting and general material handling.

Planned for full coverage at three tonnes

Main contractor CMSA Società Cooperativa – part of the ATI Conscoop, Consorzio Integra consortium, working with Pentagas and Gianni Benvenuto Spa – brought in Liebherr dealer Niederstätter at the earliest planning stage. The brief was clear: every part of the confined urban plot had to be reachable with loads of up to three tonnes on the hook.

That requirement set the number, size and position of the cranes. Niederstätter and CMSA’s site management settled on a 205 EC-B with a 50-metre hook height and 60-metre jib, a 240 EC-B at 65 metres under hook with a 68-metre jib, and a 250 EC-B at 80 metres with a 70-metre jib. Erection began on 17 March 2025.

Why flat-tops

With three cranes slewing over overlapping working areas on a tight city-centre plot, the EC-B design earns its keep: without cross bracing above the jib, the cranes can swing freely over one another, so each machine could be positioned for reach rather than restricted by its neighbours. Liebherr Tower Crane Solutions supported the project with tower system combinations and foundation loads.

More than cranes

Niederstätter’s role went beyond crane supply. The South Tyrol dealer also designed and built a two-storey modular site structure of 36.5 by 7.35 metres housing offices, changing rooms, storage and meeting rooms – two months of design work, assembled on site within a week.

The gasometers sit within the wider Bovisa-Goccia master plan, which will link the campus to a new public park and establish the district as an innovation quarter for Milan. The preserved steel shells will carry the area’s industrial history into its academic future, with the three EC-Bs staying on the job until completion in early 2027.