Liebherr tower cranes build world’s third largest double-curvature arch dam

On the Coruh River in northeastern Turkey, a 273-metre high arch dam is under construction for a hydroelectric power plant. Four EC-H cranes are in operation: two 280 EC-H 12 Litronic, one 200 EC-H 10 Litronic and one 154 EC-H 6 Litronic. A total of four million cubic metres of concrete are being handled, enough to build 47,000 residential units. The dam will be the largest double-curvature arch dam in Turkey as well as the third largest in the world.

Civil engineer Atil Karatas, who is responsible for construction machinery at the Turkish construction company Limak, appreciates the reliability offered by crane manufacturer Liebherr above all else and explains, “We’d already had positive experiences with Liebherr tower cranes when working on the world’s largest airport in Istanbul and on KMO Motorway construction sites. When we buy, we always opt for high-quality brands. Being able to rely on both the supply of spare parts and on the services provided was decisive for us.”

The project’s particular challenge lay in the combination of tough terrain and limited working space. One of the tower cranes had to be erected at an inclined rock face – with a 60-metre radius and a hook height of over 80 metres. To keep the tie-in as short as possible, it had to be planned as far down as possible and, of course, without impacting erection height. Tower Crane Solutions, Liebherr’s department focused on the provision of special solutions, supported the crane’s planning and configuration process.

This mammoth project is due for completion in 2021. From then on, the dam will generate an unimaginable 1.9 million megawatt hours of energy per year – the equivalent of a large city’s energy consumption.

^{December 2019}