Zoomlion's Tower Crane and Hoisting Machinery Joins Croatia's "Reunification Bridge" Project Over the Adriatic Sea

SILVNO, Croatia, April 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A total of six T7020-12H (IL) Zoomlion tower cranes and six SC200EB (BWM-3S) construction hoists, have joined Croatia's largest ongoing construction project, the Pelešac Sea-Crossing Bridge. The "Reunification Bridge", once completed in 2021, will connect the southern enclave comprising of the Pelešac peninsula with the remainder of the Croatian mainland. 

The Pelešac Bridge is designed to be a 2.44-kilometres long, 55-meter high and six-pylon cable-stayed bridge, with a span of 285 meters and a width of 21 meters; enough to accommodate four lanes of traffic. 

The design and the construction have encountered several challenges as the location of the bridge is subject to winds up to 41 meters per second. The working conditions also mean that equipment is susceptible to high levels of corrosivity. The challenges place high requirements on the wind resistance, corrosive resistance and stability of all equipment involved. 

"We are proud that our construction crane and hoist products, with required quality and performance and European EC certification, are to participate in the construction of the project," said Li Ziyang, Zoomlion's Engineering Director of the project. "Zoomlion has a total of 12 products participating in the project, with one tower crane and one construction hoist installed in each of the six pylons of the beam."

The T7020-12H (IL) tower crane participating in the project is one of Zoomlion's star products. The average working height is 100 meters, with a maximum arm length of 70 meters. The maximum weight lifted reaches 12 tons, perfect for lifting steel girders for the construction of the pylons.

The crane adopts a 2.2-meter cross-section tenon-type standard knot, which can reduce the volume of shipping, enhance the stability performance, and increase operational height. 

"In response to the strong wind, we designed a safe and durable pre-embedded anchor bolt and two auxiliary jibs for each tower crane," explained Li.

The SC200EB (BWM-3S) construction hoist is installed at the opposite end of the pylon. The average operational height is 50 meters, with a rated load capacity of two tons, and a rated speed of 40 meters per minute. To combat strong winds, the hoist is specially equipped with a sliding contact-line power supply to ensure stability.

Zoomlion Hoisting Machinery Branch co.ltd is the world's largest tower crane manufacturer and has ranked first for market share in the global tower crane market since 2009. 

In 2019, Zoomlion became the first company to top 10 billion yuan (USD 1.43 billion) in the global tower crane market.  

The W-generation Tower Crane Series launch event hosted on December 25, 2019, received over 300 purchase orders for 6,600 products valued at RMB 5 billion (USD 700 million) in two hours.