Not quite the actual Earth but it’s pretty close…

In honour of Earth Day, GGR Group were recently trusted to take on lifting a giant inflatable sculpture of the Earth above Hardman Square in Spinningfields, Manchester.

A Starworker 1600 was commissioned to lift and manoeuvre a 23ft sculpture in the middle of a busy and active Spinningfields. The Earth sculpture is entitled ‘Gaia’, which derives from the Greek translation meaning “Earth”, and it was created by UK artist Luke Jerram.

The 240kg Earth sculpture had to be lifted 4 metres into the air with the intention to have onlookers walk beneath the internally-lit sphere. The idea is for the public to orbit the sculpture as though they are orbiting the earth, so they can take in all of its glory in just a few steps.

Whilst being internally-lit for viewers, the sculpture was also displayed with a surround sound composition that was created by BAFTA award-winning composer, Dan Jones.

The Starworker 1600, one of our highest-level lifting trailer cranes in the range, was used to lift and maintain the sculpture in the air whilst technicians installed the sculpture into place. This special trailer crane has a lifting capacity of an impressive 1.6 tonne and boasts a lifting height of 30 metres, allowing plenty of power and height behind this lift.

With great flexibility, this star of a machine has a generous working radius of 22.5 metres, making for a very easy and safe lift- especially when lifting the Earth! Well, a 1.8 million times smaller version of the Earth.

This creation truly shown the Earth in a spectacular light and we are proud to say that we helped bring it to life!

For more information on the Starworker 1600, click here.

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Email: info@ggrgroup.com
Telephone: 0161 683 2580