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 Sécofab constructs the base of the largest crane in the world |
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New challenges for the 172 employees of Sécofab: the Sarralbe-based company is participating in the construction of the largest crane in the world and producing the deck for the new Masséna bridge in Paris.
124 m long, 10 m wide and weighing 1000 tonnes: the specifications of the new Masséna bridge, which is to be built in the 13th arrondissement of the French capital, are truly impressive. The Sarralbe firm Sécofab has been chosen by Eiffel to produce its decks, five of them in all, made up of fifteen parts, each 70 to 80 tonnes in weight, 27 metres long, and 3 metres wide. “The sections are produced in our workshops and will then be assembled directly at the site in Paris”, explains production manager Jean-Paul Kircher. The first parts will be delivered in July, and deliveries will then be spread out until the end of the year.
The LTR II 350 bases are even more impressive. This code name refers to the largest crane ever built anywhere in the world, being produced by the Swiss giant Liebherr. The iron lady can lift up to 1350 tonnes, using counterweights of between 300 and 400 tonnes.
Weighing 220 tonnes itself, it is able to raise items to a height of 223 m. The Sarralbe enterprise is participating in its construction by producing the framework, the mid-section parts, and some of the girders. “We are making the entire base, the most important part of the crane”, adds Jean-Paul Kircher.
€4.5 M invested
The parts for these giants on tracks, which are being produced in the largest refineries, in open-cast mines, and which are able to lift windmills, are therefore from Lorraine. “We produce ten parts for 7 or 8 cranes per year, cranes which are mass-produced, says Anne Fink, director of Sécofab. For us, this represents 12,000 hours of mechanical and welding work”. Another special factor is that its construction principle enables economic and simplified transportation. Only the hydraulic and electrical systems are transported as complete units.
With 172 employees and around sixty temporary staff, the Sarralbe firm is therefore doing very well. Since its takeover by Sotralentz in October 2006, €4.5 M has been invested in buying cutting machines and two reaming machines, which enable industrial-scale reaming, facing, piercing and milling operations. “We may even get a third reaming machine, costing €2.5 M, it all depends on our order book”, announces Anne Finck. An order book which is full until 2009.
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