In April 2014, the world’s largest 2,000-ton gantry crane built by Shanghai Zhenhua at the BrasFELS shipyard in Brazil was officially put into use. The gantry crane has a height of 148 meters, which is equivalent to the height of a 45-story building. It has a lifting tonnage of 2,000 tons and can successfully lift 1,400 household cars at one time. The gantry crane has set a new world record in terms of height and lifting tonnage. In lifting and assembling, lifting the main beam is the most difficult part of the entire process. The lifting weight of the main beam of the gantry crane is about 4,000 tons. The main beam needs to be lifted to a height of 148 meters. The windward area is large and the risk is high. In order to ensure smooth lifting, the ZPMC delivery team arranged personnel for real-time monitoring at 16 wind gathering points and skid trolleys on site, and set up a lifting headquarters for overall coordination. After two weeks of functional testing and load testing, the gantry crane received a license from the American Bureau of Shipping and performed well in its first hoisting task.
On June 8, 2015, the commencement ceremony of Jiangnan Shipbuilding Group’s 1,600-ton gantry crane steel structure for the No. 4 dock of Jiangnan Changxing Shipbuilding Base was successfully held. The 1,600-ton gantry crane built this time was manufactured by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries. The track gauge is 158 meters and the track length is about 1,000 meters. The gantry crane operating area covers the entire shipbuilding dock and assembly site. This project will use ZPMC’s patented double-top trolley solution. The main beam adopts a single box beam type. The lower height of the main beam reaches 95 meters. The weight of the entire machine is about 10% lighter than similar domestic products. The project will adopt three large-piece shipment and shipyard dock floating crane final assembly plans. This is the second time ZPMC has received an order for a shipbuilding gantry crane with a very large lifting capacity, after a 1,600-ton gantry crane from a domestic shipyard in 2010 and a 2,000-ton gantry crane from Keppel Shipyard in Brazil in 2012.