Spanish crane rental company chooses Grove for local hospital remodeling

• Barcelona-based Grúas del Vallés selects two Grove GMK5150L all-terrain cranes to assist in a major rebuild project at the Hospital del Mar

Grúas del Vallés, a crane rental company in Granollers, Barcelona, is in the second phase of construction work for an extension and upgrade at the Hospital del Mar, the local general hospital. The company is using two Grove GMK5150L all-terrain cranes on the project to handle lifting work.

The facility is undergoing remodeling and expansion, which is expected to last six months. As part of the project, several old buildings have been demolished while new ones are constructed – all with the help of the two Grove cranes. The cranes have been supporting construction work that runs 24 hours a day over three shifts. The 150 t capacity GMK5150L all-terrain cranes are rigged with 44.5 t of counterweight and are handling loads ranging from 3 to 21 t. Their tasks include handling lifts for a new nine-story precast concrete building.

Marc Gelabert, manager at Grúas del Vallés, said the cranes were perfectly matched to the demands of the project: “The biggest challenge is accessing all the lifting areas as the jobsite is congested, but the two Grove cranes have performed excellently. They are perfectly suited to the job with their compact dimensions and strong load charts, both at short radii and when the boom is extended. In the final stages of the project, working space is greatly reduced and the cranes have to move frequently, sometimes by just a few centimeters. But our team is very pleased with the versatility and performance of the GMK5150L cranes.”

The Grove GMK5150L offers impressive strength, with 11.8 t of lifting capacity at the end of its 60 m boom. It also provides the strongest taxi configurations in its class, with excellent options in both 12 t per axle and 16.5 t per axle configurations. This means easier roadability, transport savings, and more jobsite accessibility. The current Hospital del Mar was built in 1939 after the Spanish Civil War to serve the Barcelona area. Modern renovations have been underway since 2008, and work is currently taking place on the second phase of the project to increase the hospital’s capacity and update it with the latest medical technology.

Grúas del Vallés was founded in 1968 by Jordi Gelabert in Granollers, 30 km to the northeast of Barcelona. Today the company is run by Marc Gelabert, who has worked there since 1995. Grúas del Vallés has 45 employees and 35 cranes.