Sarens Makes Heavy Lift News with the SGC-250

Sarens Proudly Launches the Largest Crane in the World in Size and Capacity, the SGC-250 Photograph – Sarens

Date 9 November 2018

The SGC-250 (Sarens Giant Crane – 250) was launched at the port of Ghent, in Belgium. Sarens held an inauguration event on Friday, the 9th of November, 2018. A number of journalists and key Sarens contacts attended the inauguration of the largest crane owned by the organisation – a machine that is currently regarded as the largest crane in the World in both size and capacity. CEO, Wim Sarens, and Director of Technical Solutions, Projects, and Engineering, Carl Sarens, presented respectively the crane from a commercial and technical standpoint to the audience.

The SGC-250 is the first of the 3rd generation of ring-based cranes at Sarens. It has a maximum load moment of 250.000Tm which allows lifting an astonishing 5.000T. Even at a large radius of 100m, the crane is still capable of lifting 2.000T and, even when doing so, the ground pressure remains below 25T/m². This extremely impressive metric is achieved through the high number of wheel bogies on the double ring beams and the spreader mats that the machine features.

The main boom, which is now 118m, can be extended up to 160m and the jib can be extended up to 100m. This combination can reach an incredible height of about 250m or an equally astounding radius of 275m. This flexibility guarantees that Sarens is capable of building whatever is needed by the client, all on a double ring design of no more than 48,5m, which constitutes the outer diameter.

In addition, the crane can operate two hook blocks: one on the main boom and one on the jib. In this way, the crane can cover each spot on the jobsite while still offering the combination of strong capacities and fast operations.

Besides power and flexibility, Sarens has put significant effort on safety and continuity. This can, for example, be seen on the highest performance level (PL E) and full redundancy system on the hoisting and slewing system which is achieved by intelligently connecting and steering all 12 engines in six power packs.

The most unique feature of the SGC-250 is its ability to relocate, fully rigged on site, from one lifting position to another. This is a characteristic that not only has no precedent among the Sarens fleet of cranes, but constitutes a breakthrough for the entire global crane industry. The crane has two sets of wheels: one for slewing 360° and one for travelling. The second set is hydraulically retractable and is pushed out whenever the crane needs to travel.

The SGC-250 will shortly move to its first project in the UK, playing a key role in supporting the construction of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station – currently the UK’s largest and most complex civil engineering project. Hinkley Point C is a vital piece of infrastructure for the UK, supplying 7% of the country’s low carbon electricity whilst also creating some 25.000 employment opportunities throughout the construction phase. The main civil engineering works at Hinkley Point C are delivered by BYLOR – the joint venture of Bouygues Travaux Publics and Laing O’Rourke. The SGC-250 will help the Hinkley Point C team deliver increased efficiency by lifting and shifting the station’s heaviest pre-fabricated components. The machine is planned to lift more than 600 pieces of pre-fabrication, including the five major parts of each unit’s steel containment liner and dome.

It is important to note that, as the SGC-250 bares many similarities to its preceding models, Sarens commercially expects the SGC-250 to have a comparable trajectory to that of the other Sarens Giant Cranes. The SGC-250 will begin its journey in Hinkley Point, in the UK where it will be of seminal importance to the completion of the nuclear station now under construction. For technical information on the SGC, we invite you to review this presentation.

Sarens, is the global leader and reference in crane rental services, heavy lifting, and engineered transport. With state of the art equipment, value engineering, one of the world’s largest inventories of cranes, transporters, and specialty rigging equipment, Sarens offers creative and intelligent solutions to today’s heavy lifting and engineered transport challenges. 

5,000t is the same weight as

1408 Elephants 

or

648 Tractors

or

126 Trucks

or

63 Locomotives

or

20 Airbus A380 aircraft

Source Sarens