Earthquake-proofing Japan's bridges with Liebherr 42 K.1/J fast-erecting cranes

ongoing

Five 42 K.1/J cranes are working on the construction of a motorway bridge close to Mount Fuji in the south east of Japan. The Shin (New) - Tohmei Expressway connects the city of Toyoda with Japan’s capital Tokyo. Because of the mountainous terrain, the motorway needs to run through a number of tunnels as well as across several bridges and viaducts. In addition to this landscape, planning of the motorway and its construction has to also take the region’s high risk of earthquakes into account. The Liebherr 42 K.1/J fast-erecting crane can withstand earthquakes scoring level nine on the Mercallis scale and hurricanes of 200 km/h. The cranes are being used to construct the bridge piers and girders of the motorway section near Gotenba-Shi. Their flexibility is of particular advantage here: as a power line crosses the site, the lowest tower height of 12 metres was chosen in several cases.