24.01.2022

Potain twins for Ballast Nedam

Dutch contractor Ballast Nedam’s subsidiary Heddes Bouw & Ontwikkeling has added two 12 tonne Potain MDT 319 tower cranes to its rental fleet.

The new cranes went straight to work on the construction of student halls of residence at the Leiden Bio Science Park in the Netherlands. They will remain on site until June when the 23,000 square metre building - which includes 703 residences, communal areas and facilities as well as roof gardens - should be completed.

The cranes had to be located clear of the buildings so the contractor chose to mount them on six metre square counterweighted chassis/bases. The maximum height of the buildings is 43 metres, so the lowest crane had to have a minimum under hook height of 54 metres and because the distance between the centre of the cranes had to be 52 metres, the jib of the highest crane had to be at least 10 metres higher at 64 metres.
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The two Potain MDT 319 at work

The first MDT 319 was assembled with a hook height of 33.9 metres, a 45 metre jib and 84 tonnes of ballast on the base, while the second was configured with a 63.9 metre hook height, 60 metre jib and 156 tonnes of ballast. The jib tip capacities are 6.4 and 4.7 tonnes respectively, although the loads range from three to five tonnes.

Eric Tukker of Ballast Nedam said: “As far as we were concerned, Potain was the only crane brand for the job. We have relied on Potain’s quality and innovative technology to keep our projects on schedule for more than 30 years and it is the only brand we have invested in so far.”

“The 12 tonne Potain MDT 319 had the perfect specifications for our needs on this project and the trust and confidence Potain has earned from us over the years meant it was a no brainer to add two units with a V63A chassis to our fleet of rental cranes. We already have five 16 tonne MD 365, two 16 tonne MDT 389 and two 25 tonne MD 560 cranes from Potain so the two MDT 319 models are welcome additions to our rental fleet.