Liebherr Flat Top Crane Installed by Helicopter on Mont Blanc – Video

A new educational centre focused on climate change, complete with cable car, is currently being built on France’s largest glacier, the “Mer de Glace”. The transformation of the Montenvers station is intended to make students, tourists and residents even more aware of the effects of climate change. Access to the high mountain area will also be made easier with the new cable car moving closer to the glacier. A Liebherr 150 EC-B 8, whose assembly required the use of a helicopter, is an integral part of the project.

A helicopter delivered one tower section after another to the Montenvers mountain station up at an altitude of 1,913m, after the foundation anchor was secured to the massif. Four assembly engineers from Liebherr’s partner FT Montage and six flight assistants from Heliswiss International took delivery of the parts from overhead, connected them and worked their way up to a tower height of over 40m. A spectacular panorama presents itself: rock faces, trees and ice fields sparkle in the sunshine. But the engineers have little time to appreciate the views from the foot of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps and the European Union. The helicopter is on its approach with the crane’s slewing platform.

“Assembly has been a true team effort that wouldn’t have been possible without mutual trust,” says Guillaume Riband, Operations Manager France Centre East at Vinci Construction France. “Everyone has pulled together and risen to the challenge as a result.” FT Montage won the “Trophée des Grues á Tour” in the category “Assembly of the Year” due to the complexity and difficulty of the operation. The award is presented annually by the CPMDG (Professional commission for tower crane professions and equipment) from the DLR Federation.

Thanks to the right choice of crane, good preparation and a well-coordinated team, the assembly on Mont Blanc has gone smoothly. The unusual assembly of the 150 EC-B took around eight hours. During this time, a powerful Kamov KA 32 A11 BC heavy-lift helicopter from Heliswiss International flew back and forth 30 times to deliver all the crane parts and tower system elements.

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