A UNIC URW-295 mini spider crane was hired from GGR Group to help install stone cladding panels to the exterior façade of a new university student accommodation complex recently.

The 2.9 tonne capacity spider crane was lifted onto the 7^th floor rooftop by the site’s tower crane to start work on cladding each of the building’s four sides. Working at a 6 metre lifting height, each of the 600kg glass reinforced concrete panels were lifted up over the 3 metre high wall then down to their installation points, from ground level up.

The crane lifted the standard 3 metres tall by 1.5 metres wide panels as well as the L-shaped corner pieces using steel plates with pins and spreader beams. With another mini crane set to join this machine on the rooftop, the pair will install over 1,000 panels in total over the course of the project.

UNIC mini cranes are often hired for rooftop lifting work, for example installing glass façade panels at Trinity Leeds, lifting steel handrails to balconies on a high-rise apartment block in Reykjavik, and moving large format glass units into a London home for a basement swimming pool.

Take a look at more examples of our spider cranes installing stone cladding panels and the range of stone vacuum lifters available to hire from GGR.