Potain cranes lead construction on Chorus Life smart city project

Potain dealer for the Bergamo area Techind has deployed seven Potain MDT 219 J10 top-slewing tower cranes along with Potain self-erecting tower cranes HD 40A and Igo 50 to lift construction materials around the Chorus Life jobsite.

In Bergamo, northern Italy, real estate company Costim is regenerating a 150,000 m2 brownfield site into a new smart city. The project, dubbed Chorus Life, is one of the most innovative of its kind in the country and will include an arena seating 6,500, a parking lot for 1,000 vehicles, a spa complete with a medical center, a sky jogging track, a 110-room hotel, and a 74-apartment residence.

With around 400 t of iron to be handled on-site every week, along with all the other construction materials, contractor Percassi approached local Potain dealer Techind to identify the optimum lifting equipment for the job. Percassi needed a single crane model that could be set up in different configurations in order to allow interchangeability, facilitate its use by operators and optimize the management of maintenance and spare parts.

Techind’s 25 years of experience in providing customized lifting solutions and a high-quality rental fleet of 65 top-slewing tower cranes and 60 self-erecting tower cranes gave Percassi the trust and confidence to choose Potain. Techind carried out an on-site layout study of the spaces, the heights and overall dimensions of the individual buildings, the logistics, and the work to be performed, to establish the necessary operating heights, jib lengths, and capacities.

The decision was made in favor of the MDT 219 J10, which incorporates some of Potain's most advanced control and management technologies. Techind subsequently erected seven Potain MDT 219 J10 top-slewing cranes with Ultra View cabs in different configurations with varying heights, jib lengths, and capacities around the Chorus Life site. The basic configuration of the Potain MDT 219 J10 is a 65 m jib with a maximum capacity of 10 t at 17 m and 1.9 t at the tip. In this instance, the cranes were equipped with a 37 kW (50 HP) 50LVF25 GH Optima lifting hoist and RVF 162 Optima Plus slewing mechanism.

All seven cranes feature the latest generation Crane Control System (CCS), which helps get work done faster and with greater precision. The CCS offers a user-friendly interface, full graphic display, ergonomic controls, and a jog dial for easier navigation and data input, to promote the highest levels of comfort, control, and lifting capacity. The cranes use Top Tracing III, an integrated anti-collision system that can monitor up to 16 cranes on site. The full screen allows for a more comprehensive view of the crane and its surroundings, besides that already offered by the Potain Ultra View cab.

The cranes also feature the CraneSTAR Diag remote diagnostics tool, which enables technicians to remotely connect to the crane operator’s control screen to perform diagnostics and troubleshooting in real time. This solution helps save time and money and avoids multiple trips to the jobsite by ensuring technicians arrive with the right tools and parts to fix the issue. In addition to the seven MDT 219 J10 top-slewing tower cranes, Techind also deployed two Potain self-erecting tower cranes – an HD 40A, which is 23 m high and has a 35 m jib, and an Igo 50, which is 23.2 m high and has a 40 m jib. 

The Igo 50 is the largest model in the Igo range of Potain self-erecting tower cranes. It offers a compact design (4.5 x 4.5 m footprint) with a small rear slewing radius that ensures maneuverability on even the tightest jobsites. It features a 480V three-phase power hookup, optional fixed height cab and access ladder, and wireless remote control.

This combination of cranes from Potain will help Percassi work effectively and efficiently to remain on schedule and meet high-quality standards for the project.