Liebherr's is to supply four HC-L series tower cranes for the project to build the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. One of the four will place the top on the building at a height of about 1,000m – more than three higher than the top of the Shard in London. To get to this height it will first have to climb up into the air by itself in the central building.
In total six luffing jib cranes will work on the Kingdom Tower, four of which are from Liebherr. Liebherr Tower Crane Solutions is providing support to the contractor to ensure economical crane planning.The current plan is for the project to use three type 280 HC-L 16/28 and one 357 HC-L 18/32 Litronic. Jib lengths are envisaged to be between 40m and 45m. The required lifting capacities vary between 11t and 12t at a radius of 35 m.
The three Liebherr 280 HC L luffing jib cranes will build the side wings of the Kingdom Tower. These cranes will be anchored on the outside of the building and will reach hook heights of approximately 400m.
To reach these enormous heights the cranes will have to move upwards in several climbing stages. For this purpose they will be positioned on the sky terrace of the building or on various cantilever platforms mounted on the outside of the building. The tower cranes on the Kingdom Tower site will erect and dismantle each other.
As well as being the first structure in the world to reach a height of over 1,000m, Kingdom Tower will also have the highest-ever visitor viewing platform, at a height of 630 m. The skyscraper with 170m storeys is part of the Kingdom City urban development project in the north of Jeddah.
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