Grove gets to work in Guam

A Grove all-terrain crane has been put to work to help construct a federal GSA building on the small Pacific island on Guam. The building will house federal employees working in the US territory.

Yigo-based company Smithbridge chose the Grove GMK5275 to unload precast wall panels onto the job site before placing them around the perimeter of the building.

Rick Schmidtke, crane and heavy equipment superintendent for Smithbridge, said the GMK5275 was an ideal tool for the job. “We chose the GMK5275 for this project because of its reach and capacity,” he said. “It was equipped with 56 tons (51 tonnes) of counterweight, and we relied on the 21 ton (19 tonne) heavy jib to erect precast panels into vertical position.”

The wall panels ranged from 17 ton (15 tonne) to 20 ton (18 tonne) in weight. The panels were 40 ft (12 m) by 10 ft (3 m) in size, and were lifted just a few feet off of the ground to be placed.

Precast stairs were also lifted and placed into position for the building, which required lifting the stairs over the top of the building’s structure.