October 10 - Heavy lift crane manufacture Liebherr is backing the development of the power boom system by setting new benchmarks in the large lattice boom crane sector, says the company.

For a few weeks, a lattice boom crane has been standing 150 m above the Liebherr factory site in Ehingen, Germany. At the lower part of the crane the lattice sections are assembled parallel to each other. At the top, the double boom has been joined together to form a single boom.

This 'parallel boom' is the newly-developed P-boom, a so-called 'power boom'. This innovation allows a lifting capacity increase of more than 50 percent. The parallel lattice sections are joined near the slewing platform with the lower P-adapter and are bolted to the crane. At the top of the crane, the double boom is joined with the upper P-adapter and is extended with a simple lattice system.

The power boom not only improves stability in the direction of the load, but also to the side, which results in enormous increases in lifting capacity with long boom systems, says the company. The serial luffing fly jib can be attached, with its lifting capacity also being increased considerably by the increase in the torsional moment of the power boom.

The power boom can be retrofitted to existing cranes and was designed for the 3,000 tonne LR 13000 crawler crane.