A Liebherr construction crane, similar to the one pictured above at the Atrium construction site in 2010, will rise higher than any crane in Victoria's history to build the Promontory tower. File photo © Skyscraper Source Media.

After five months of dynamiting a rocky outcropping overlooking Victoria’s Inner Harbour, excavation for the City of Victoria’s tallest building, the 21-storey (66.3 meter tall) Promontory tower in Vic West, is finally nearing completion.

But before construction crews can get to work and actually begin building the tower, a construction crane, and in this case perhaps the tallest such crane ever erected in Victoria, will first be assembled.

The German-built Liebherr free-standing construction crane will hover above workers at a height equal to two-thirds of Mount Tolmie, or 83.8 meters.  The crane’s operator will sit a little lower at  74.7 meters.

“It is very, very likely this crane will be the tallest ever erected [in Victoria],” confirmed Ian MacKenzie of Axiom Builders, a Burnaby-based construction contractor in charge of the Promontory project.

In the 1960’s when Victoria’s current tallest tower (22-storey Orchard House) was constructed it would have been with the use of a climbing crane. The way that technology works is the crane rises with the growing tower and always hovers two or three floors above the floorplate. Using hydraulic lifts, the crane climbs just high enough to give crews the space they need to work. Even at it’s full raised height, though, it is doubtful the crane would have stood anywhere near 84 meters above ground.

At the Promontory site the giant Liebherr will be free-standing, meaning it will be erected to full height from the start of construction and stay at that height until disassembly in early 2014. This will give the public a sense of the final tower’s height at build-out well ahead of its scheduled completion date.

Those wanting to observe the crane erection should expect activity in the second or third week of June, said MacKenzie.  He adds that the process will be a “sight to behold” as individual pieces of the mast are bolted together followed by attaching the slewing unit (the component that allows the crane to rotate) and finally placing the elongated boom (which allows for horizontal movement of the crane’s pulley).  The entire erection process — weather permitting — will likely take two days to complete. VV

To discuss Promontory and to stay up to date on the projects latest news, construction photos and updates, refer to VibrantVictoria’s discussion thread here. Connect with us through our Victoria Condos Facebook page where VibrantVictoria highlights the latest condo projects throughout the region. And follow us on Twitter to stay up-to-date on the latest discussions and major headlines as covered by VibrantVictoria.

© Copyright 2012 by Skyscraper Source Media Inc. All rights reserved.