Van Riel Deploys Tadano Cranes for Gantry Lift at Den Bosch Port

Van-Riel-Quattro
In March 2025, Dutch crane service provider M.J. van Riel removed a 240-tonne gantry crane from the inland port of ’s-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch) for overhaul. By July, the company was tasked with reinstalling the crane, opting for a four-crane tandem lift, including two Tadano AC 9.700-1 units and one AC 8.500-1.

“The lift required enormous lifting capacities, which is why we decided on the specific cranes we used,” said Claire Van Riel, Marketing & Communication Officer, M.J. van Riel.

All four cranes were mobilised from the company’s headquarters in Tilburg, just 30 km away, and reached the site in 45 minutes. Each machine was set up with its full counterweight, with preparation taking only 1.5 hours per crane, allowing the team to execute the complex lift efficiently without the need for superlift configurations.

The lift itself proved to be significantly more demanding than the relatively straightforward task of setting up the cranes: “Synchronously lifting a load this heavy with four cranes is really complex and requires extremely meticulous planning,” Claire Van Riel says: The load had to be evenly distributed among all four cranes in order to avoid overloading any single one of them. The lifting movements had to be perfectly synchronized so that the load would not overturn or become warped. And last, but not least, communications between all crane operators had to go perfectly smoothly. Every single one of these requirements was met during the lift in Den Bosch, and the Van Riel team was ultimately able to set down the gantry crane in the exact intended position on its rails. To this end, the gantry crane was first lifted to a height of 24 meters, then swung to the side 10 meters, and finally set down with utmost precision.

Thanks to superb planning, the perfectly coordinated Van Riel team’s ample experience, and, of course, the powerful Tadano cranes used and their sensitive controls, the spectacular job was completed on schedule within a single day.
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