Unic URW-706 mini crane making its way up The Shard

Those watching the skies around the south side of the River Thames in London this week may have been surprised to see GGR’s compact mini crane being lifted to an incredible height of 283 metres onto the roof of The Shard—making it the highest ever compact crane in Britain.

The 6 tonne capacity Unic URW-706 mini spider crane was dismantled into two and lifted by a tower crane onto the 87^th floor of the colossal building which is due to be completed later this year.

GGR’s Unic mini crane and specialist operators will be working from the rooftop for the next few months to lift glass panels from a storage unit on the 62^nd floor onto the levels above on the north and west sides of the building.

The GGR Group team on top of The Shard

The variable outrigger positions of the Unic URW-706 crane made it an ideal choice to work within the limited space of the Shard’s rooftop.  The outriggers were moved with millimeter precision via radio remote control before the crane was lowered onto the building’s four main support columns, with little margin for error. The boom was then lifted up to the 87^th floor and reattached to the crane, ready for work to commence.

The GGR team who managed the lift were treated to an amazing bird’s eye view of the capital and were elated to witness the start of what will be a record breaking job us. Luckily our operators that are working on the site have a good head for heights!