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By: Joshua Farrell, Simon Gould + Fabian Cotter , Photography by: courtesy Allegheny Crane and Rigging (ACR)

Successfully lifting a bus with a crane is a difficult task at the best of times, but after a recent US bridge collapse - near Frick Park, Pittsburgh, USA - the project was a little more complex, a leading American crane operator explains.

The recovery of the bus was something admired by residents of Pittsburgh, making local news channels and showing the wider community the importance of the crane industry, says Allegheny Crane and Rigging (ACR) president Kyrk Pyros, who acknowledged the work of the rescue teams and his own team in the successful recovery of the bus.

"It was a great collaboration between public and private partnerships in the City of Pittsburgh," Pyros told ABC magazine's sister title Cranes and Lifting, recently.

"It was a true team effort from all of those involved that allowed us to recover the vehicle.

"It combined the FBI, secret service, NTSB USAR 51, Pittsburgh Fire, Pittsburgh Police, Public works, Mcgann and Chester, KP Builders and Allegheny Crane to complete the lift," Pyros explained.

According to local reports, there were a number of hospitalisations as a result of the bridge collapse and at least three people rushed to hospital were on the bus. Miraculously there were no deaths. Understandably, the bridge deck had to be cleared of vehicles before any recovery work could begin.

Salvaging the Port Authority bus was the most challenging aspect of the lifts. It was situated some 26 metres below the crane and weighed in at 21 tonnes, measuring 18m in length, 2.5m in width and 3m in height.

Being an articulated bus it posed an even greater challenge for the planners. That is, once the lift began it had potential to shift the centre of gravity on the load, they explain. The Allegheny crew began the task of solidifying the bus to ensure it could be lifted and not a pose a risk of shifting and placing the crew in danger, the company says.

Allegheny Crane Rentals utilised a Liebherr LTM 1350-6.1 with Y guides and luffer to perform the lift. The second crane - a Grove GMK5275, 275t capacity all terrain featured luffing jib and utilised 63.71m of the main boom - was also used in the recovery.

"We used Mcgann and Chester’s 90-tonne Rotator Wrecker to pull up the bus to get it straightened out, so we could rig and block-knuckle it," ACR president Pyros explains.

"To prevent the bus from moving we fixed cribbing, which was braced to the structural frame members inside the bus while it was being suspended by the Wrecker, then we rigged the bus from the outside with our rigging plan," Pyros added.

"Rigging like this is an art; [it] is where engineering and style collide for a great solution. I am a more of a naturalist; I keep it as it lays for simplicity and safety.

"We have the vision in place then we say, ‘Let’s go worst case scenario, everything that can fail, might fail - do we have a contingency for this?’" Pyros explained.

The lift itself required diligent and careful planning from Allegheny Crane and Rigging and all engineers were tasked with ensuring the lift was completed successfully.

"We set up a temporary office in Frick Mechanics shop and we are grateful we were able to access this during the lift. We were constantly updating and tweaking right up until the pick," Pyros said.

"We had three engineers on this project from start to finish - Alex Delp, Hank Depasquale and myself - and we were continually updating in real time and working together to ensure the project was completed successfully," he said.

"It was a great collaboration and team effort between public and private partnerships in the City of Pittsburgh.

"The bus weighed in at an impressive 21 tons and measured out at 18 metres in length, 2.5 metres in width and 3 metres in height. The rigging weight came in at 462 kilograms, the hook weight was 800 kilograms, the hook height was 33 metres and the materials used were kevlar and steel," he said.

According to the company, it utilised more than 140 tonnes of counterweight to successfully complete the lift. The counterweight was easily added to the crane utilising Liebherr’s vast array of safety equipment, which included pedestals, hand railing and hand holds, the company confirms.

The Liebherr LTM 1350-6.1 provided all the power Allegheny crew needed to lift the bus out of the ravine, they say. The drivetrain for the LTM 1350-6.1 is an eight-cylinder Liebherr turbo diesel with an output of 450kW. It has an automatic ZF gearbox with 12 forward gears and two reverse gears. The LTM 1350-6.1 has active rear-axle steering, which allowed it to be manoeuvred into place and ensure the lift was able to occur, ARC highlights.

The company adds that the Liebherr LTM1350-6.1 is ‘extremely compact’, which allowed to it be manoeuvrable and reach its position with little issue. The chassis length is 15.37 metres, the minimum turning radius is 12.69 metres, the chassis width is 3 metres and the tail swing is only 3 metres, ARC confirms.

The crane has air-powered disc brakes giving it a strong stopping capability and giving the Liebherr higher braking power and braking control, the company says. The air-controlled brakes have no brake fading at higher temperatures and a higher servicing life, it adds.

A lift of this magnitude requires several important parts to ensure it is completed successfully, the company outlines. The matting used was an Axion Structure and is reinforced with half-inch-thick steel. The specs for the matting itself were: timber width was 304 millimetres, the timber depth was 304 millimetres, the mat length was 6 metres and the mat width was 2.5 metres.

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