Tower cranes outside The Cube, Birmingham

Birmingham Development Company’s (BDC) mixed-use development The Cube in Birmingham has reached a significant visible milestone with the removal of the mast climbers and the two100m tall tower cranes from the city centre site.

BDC’s construction arm BuildAbility managed the removal of the two specially designed Jost JT312 topless cranes. The cranes were dismantled by suppliers London Tower Cranes using a Liebherr LTM 11000 mobile crane on a luffing jib to reach from the road adjacent to the site to the front of the development where the cranes were situated.

The cranes, which had been on site from April 2008, were painted black in keeping with The Cube brand and, were the only black cranes in the UK since the construction of Buckingham Palace. Given the unusually tight nature of the city centre site, situated between a canal, a road and a number of dense residential developments, the base tower sections had to be specifically made for the project.

“The cranes, which had been on site from April 2008, were painted black in keeping with The Cube brand and, were the only black cranes in the UK since the construction of Buckingham Palace”

Last year the cranes were the first Jost cranes in the UK to be hydraulically jacked using a state of the art technique. To meet the height necessary for the construction of The Cube, which has now reached its full height of 70m, the jacking took the cranes from the heights of 54m and 63m to their full height of 99m and 101m respectively.

The installation of the specially manufactured glazing to the rooftop restaurant that will crown the development will begin early in the New Year, with the fitting of the bespoke designed remote controlled Building Maintenance Unit (BMU) now complete in line with the build schedule that will see The Cube complete mid 2010.

“The installation of the specially manufactured glazing to the rooftop restaurant that will crown the development will begin early in the New Year”