Vertical Access to Tower Crane Hek MSM Super from Alimak Hek

Hek MSM Super modified to provide access to tower crane

Construction of Grocon's new office tower for the Australian Taxation Office, located on Elisabeth St in the heart of Brisbane's CBD, commenced in July 2011. The tower, which will be 15 levels tall, housing 1300 ATO employees, is due for completion in 2013.

The LCR Group, the largest privately owned tower and mobile crane company in Australia, operated the tower crane on the Grocon site. Given the tight construction space afforded by the narrow, inner-city Brisbane laneway, and the free standing nature of the crane, operators were climbing 30m ladders to gain access to the tower crane cabin. Limited accessibility and increasing concern for worker safety prompted the LCR Group to consider an alternative access solution in the form of the Hek MSM Super.

Ordinarily, the Hek MSM operates as a multifunctional mast climbing work platform (MCWP), providing vertical access and a safe, clear and stable workspace on construction facades. In order for the LCR Group to use the Hek MSM as vertical access to the tower crane, several modifications needed to be made.

As a special request from the LCR Group, AlimakHek redesigned the Hek MSM specifically to provide access to the tower crane. Modifications included: the manufacturing of special access gates, converting the platform to suit the Grocon site constraints, and the addition of meshing to provide additional safety for the operators. This redesign of the Hek MSM allowed two passengers to safely access the top of the crane tower, without the use of ladders.

A further challenge in the re-design of the Hek MSM platform, were the space constraints imposed by the enclosed inner-city location. The Hek MSM's 1.5m deck was re-engineered to fit the tight space on the Grocon site, while AlimakHek technicians had to contend with the continuous use of the tower crane during the platforms on-site installation.

The Hek MSM Super has been in operation on the Grocon site, providing The LCR Group operators access to the tower crane, since September 2011. In the future, this unique style of tower crane access may become a requirement for all crane operators in Australia.