News Release

November 16, 2005

Grove and Manitowoc Cranes at Work for Texas Refinery Refurbishment Project

A Grove GMK5130-1 (GMK5165 in the US) all-terrain crane, at an oil refinery refurbishment project, in El Paso, Texas.

A Grove GMK5130-1 (GMK5165 in the US) all-terrain crane has been put to work on a refurbishment project at an oil refinery in El Paso, Texas. A large amount of the lifting and transportation work has been subcontracted to Energy Transportation based in Casper, Wyoming, to whom the GMK5130-1 was delivered earlier in 2005. The crane was supplied by Manitowoc Crane Group dealer, Honnen Equipment.

Refinery renovation was the first job for the five-axle, 130 t (143 USt) capacity machine. Work involved a variety of lifting duties including the installation of new exchangers, valves, catalyst bins, heaters, and flare stacks. The GMK5130-1 certainly pulled its weight, handling challenging lifting tasks with little downtime, despite the work schedule lasting 24 hours a day, for nearly a month.

The GMK5130-1 has a six-section main boom that reaches up to 60 m (197 ft), a 10 m (36 ft) hydraulic offsetting jib and a counterweight of 40 t (44 USt). This made it an ideal machine for hauling 27.2 t (30 USt) exchangers compared to other five-axle all-terrains.

Texas oil company, Western Refining controls the refinery and hired local construction firm, James & Luther Contractors, to manage refurbishment work who in turn, called in Energy Transportation. Energy Transportation has more than 20 cranes serving the midwest, eastern and western US, primarily the Rocky Mountain region, as well as Canada and Mexico.

A job such as the Western refinery renovation is quite common for the company, despite the distance between Casper and El Paso being nearly 1,609 km (1,000 miles). Dan McGlade, president of Energy Transportation, explained the GMK5130-1 fits well with the company’s philosophy of travelling to where the work is.

“Anyone who works in the construction and lifting industries will tell you that transporting large mobile cranes over long distances in the US can be a problem, with restrictions varying from state to state. However, transporting this machine posed no such problem. It travels well and has proved to be much less of a liability where roading is concerned than other machines.”

Besides the GMK5130-1 model, Energy Transportation used nine other Manitowoc Crane Group products at the El Paso site. Its fleet of MCG products comprised a variety of truck, rough-terrain, crawler, and all-terrain units (see table). These cranes were chosen to work at the refinery because of their versatility, dimensions, and reach. The heaviest load lifted on site was a 42 m (140 ft), 29.4 t (32.4 USt) flare stack, which was picked by a 209 t (230 USt) Manitowoc Model 888 crawler crane.

Randy DeFosse, lifting division sales manager at Honnen, had positive words for the GMK5130-1. “The unit is very easy to maneuver and perfect for working in environments where space is limited, such as Western’s refinery. It’s easily transported, yet handles the mountain roads in the Rockies extremely well, where access can be difficult.”

McGlade agrees with DeFosse. “We both strive to maintain a leading edge in by utilizing the latest technology available. Our continued partnership using MCG products will enable our respective companies to continue to stay on the leading edge of crane service.”

Manitowoc Crane Group models present at Western Refining, El Paso