Luffing Crane

A huge 250 ton luffing tower crane was put into service by L&T under supervision of Hidco Engineers to put up a 38m long 25 ton steel beam onto the roof level of the state convention centre now being built at New Town, beside Hidco Bhavan. A lot of excitement was there in the air as all engineers of all ranks from Hidco, NKDA, L&T and architect firm DMA assembled at the site and watched the maneuvers. Dozens of coconuts were broken at the start and puja was performed.

I came to know what a luffing tower crane is. Engineers explained to me that long cranes are called tower cranes. But luffing tower cranes have a co-ordinated mechanism such that it can move objects horizontally maintaining the same level of the object, without movement of the crane itself. This is very helpful in crowded construction places. The web has this to say on luffing cranes: The luffing boom crane was designed to meet the requirements of the restricted job site. With a short tail-swing and the ability to raise and lower its boom, it easily adapts to construction site demands providing complete coverage while avoiding obstructions.

A photo on my iPhone, taken at 3.30 pm today:
 

Luffing tower crane at State Conevtion Centre
site today, 15 Dec 2015

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The floating Cafe Ekante made its debut journey today. A picture:

Photo courtesy Jahid Khan

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Clippings:

Times of India dt 15 Dec 2015

Ei Samay dt 15 Dec 2015

Hindustan Times dt 15 Dec 2015