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3/1/2005
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Cape Canaveral
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 In preparation for the launch of the Space Shuttle this summer, NASA has begun spiffing up its launch pads, known as 39A and 39B, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL. Central to this delicate maintenance effort is Buckner Heavy Lift’s new Liebherr LR- 1400/2. Rigged in the SW configuration with its 184 foot S main boom and the 230 foot W luffing jib, the crane was situated in the footprint of where the shuttles are suspended before launch. It was rigged with a 342,000 pound rear counterweight in addition to the 95,000 pound carbody counterweight.
According to Buckner’s crane project manager Jerry Masten, the machine performed flawlessly, making two precision lifts, including the installation of a new “candlestick,” the nickname for the launch pad’s lightening protection center. The candlestick is the tallest point on the launch pad, and it is designed to attract lightening from as far away as five miles. A high tech lightening rod, the candlestick protects the shuttle and its sensitive electronics from lightening strikes.
“The highest lift was the candlestick lift,” Masten says. “The candlestick looks like a big pipe, it’s 104 foot long and about six feet in diameter. It is fixed above the structure. Our job was to provide the crane and operator for the installation of a new one.”
Weighing 47,000 pounds, the candlestick was lifted to a height of 365 feet at a 140 foot radius.
General Contractor Ivey’s Construction handled the final Lift Planning and rigging of the device, using spreader bars.
“Using our CompuCrane software and the Liccon software provided with the crane from the manufacturer, we did the preliminary lift planning to simulate the lift and show them the process we would recommend,” explained Masten. “We sent them the drawings from our software, which helped verify that we were capable of doing the jobs required and that we had chosen the right crane for the job.”
While the candlestick lift wasn’t that complicated, Masten said it is pretty nerve racking knowing that every movement has to be precise so as not to damage the multi-million dollar launch pad and all of its sophisticated and highly engineered devices.
The other large scale lift involved the installation of the new Weather Protection Doors that protect the shuttle during the time it is mounted at the launch pad prior to the launch. Masten said the doors are used to cover critical parts of the shuttle when it’s on the launch pad in the event of bad weather on the pad.
The doors that cover the storage area weigh approximately 52,000 pounds and were lifted at a 120 foot radius. They are installed on a sliding trolley. This lift also went off seamlessly, Masten says.
“This crane has a lot more capacity in the derrick attachment configuration but we didn’t need all that for this job,” he says. “We will use this crane for all sorts of projects.”
This was actually the second job the crane had ever been on, and was slated to be dispatched to Fort Lauderdale when the call came in for this project.
“With demand so strong right now, we probably wouldn’t have been able to do this project as this crane was supposed to go work on a Power Plant project, but the project was delayed and we had the crane available,” he says. “We were able to send this one to Kennedy and the next one that came available went on to the delayed project at Fort Lauderdale. It was luck of the draw really, with demand for this type of machine so high, we were happy to have this gap so we could do the project.
Kennedy Space Center was a fascinating place to work, Masten says, and Contractor Ivey’s Construction is first rate.
“They are an interesting company that started in the late 1950s and has been on site at Kennedy for many, many years. They did most of the construction at the site and they know all the people there and even the astronauts,” he says. “They are family owned and do most of the work themselves.”
Masten says he hopes Buckner will do more work at Kennedy Space Center. He enjoyed being on site and seeing up close all the details related to an actual launch.
“It was interesting that we assembled the crane from the same spot the shuttle is walked onto the launch pad,” he says. The Space Shuttle is maneuvered(sp) on it’s transport from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to either of the launch pads on a gravel roadway. This was ideal for the assembly and movement of the crane from the assembly area up to the launch pad as it was wide and flat.
Florida is a growing market for Buckner Heavy Lift and its sister company Bucker Steel Erection. Among other projects, the company built the Jacksonville Arena and are currently working on projects in Panama City and Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
Article done by: D.Ann Shiffler
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