Sometimes it is very difficult to put things into a size perspective. We can tell you that a crane is 400 feet tall or that it is capable of lifting a couple million pounds but the reality is that those figures don’t really make a lot of concrete sense. This one might, though. It takes TWO MONTHS to actually assemble the crane once all the piece show up on site. Two months of crews working seven days a week to actually have this erector set built. That is mind boggling to us but not quite as mind boggling as the video you are going to see below. Made by Chevron this film is a time lapse of the amazing job done at the company’s El Segundo, California refinery to replace the “coke tanks” which are massive cylinders that weigh about 600,000lbs a piece.
During the refining process the coke tanks are used to take residual oils and turn them into fuel grade or industrial grade materials as best we can tell. As these tanks had been in use for a long time and modern practices and construction methods have improved over the years, it was decided that they needed to be replaced. The process is pretty fascinating because you will see the crane lift what looks to be a series of linked derricks off the top of the tank area and set it to the side. Those derricks are called “de-coking derricks” and they were cut by work crews before being lifted off. Perhaps the most interesting part of the video to us is watching those derricks be lowered back on top of the tanks at the end.
The crane is absolutely jaw dropping in its size and construction. There are multiple other cranes used to build the monster and by all indications it handled this job like a breezy walk in the park! The time lapse nature of the video makes it a really fun watch. Stuff is always moving.
We had a Manitowoc 2500 w/ a ‘ maxer ‘ counter weight w/ and 400 ft
boom erect a wind turbine where I work
watching the crane go together was cool as the turbine going up –
look up one of these taking it’s self apart in NY – time lapse of it
and 40 + flat beds waiting for the parts —it had a deadline to be moved
The coke drums take all the heavy material that is left over from all the refinery processes and squeeze the last of the liquids out. The coke is a product also and is used in the steel making industry among other uses.
I worked around this very crane a few years ago. First, we had to make room for all the parts of it. We made a 4 acre stone lot. it filled the 4 acres, and then some. Then I worked around it with a smaller crane. Just setting up the rigging. The cable on the rig was the same diameter as a pop can. And used 2, 20 part lifting blocks to pick the load. You know it’s picking something heavy. When the rigging chokers were 4″ in diameter.It lifted and set a pick over 250′ away. The load was around 185 ton. That boys and girls is impressive. And to top it all off. The company the owners these rigs. They build them . Now that is real impressive.