GGR’s compact cranes have been putting in some hard graft to help to keep the UK’s network of canals in perfect working order this summer.

An 8 tonne capacity MCC805 mini crawler crane was hired to replace old lock gates at this particularly hard to reach area of the canal in the Cheshire countryside. There was no time for relaxing in the sunshine for two of GGR’s lifting team as it was all hands on deck to get this contract lift job completed.

To reach the site, the crawler crane was unloaded at the nearest roadside and was tracked down a country path to the canal lock. The crane’s 2.5 metre wide chassis was able to squeeze down the uneven path which was just 2.6 metres wide at points.

Two 6 metre tall lock gates weighing 2 tonnes each were removed and lifted by the GGR crane into a nearby boat to be taken away from the site. The new lock gates were then installed, with the crawler crane operating at an 8 metre working radius and lifting to an 8 metre height.

GGR’s MCC805 crawler crane is a familiar site on the UK’s waterways. Earlier this year the same model was hired to replace brickwork on a canal in Derbyshire.  GGR’s UNIC mini spider cranes are also often used for lock gate replacement work, like this UNIC URW-706 working at Buscot Lock in Oxfordshire for example.

To take a look at more examples of GGR’s compact cranes working on waterways projects visit the new gallery section of our website.