Category: Publications

We contribute technical white papers and magazine articles in a variety of venues. We regularly share our knowledge and experience at maritime conferences in the United States and around the world. Explore more of our publications by following the links below or select additional topics at right.

Balance Crane – A New Type of STS Crane in Development

Known for concept cranes and innovations, Liftech conceived the Balance Crane (BC) and developed the design in collaboration with crane manufacturer ZPMC, Shanghai, China. This future crane, also called articulating balance crane (ABC), is a new type of STS container crane developed to address a need for reduced wheel loads and reduced tie-down loads. This presentation describes how the BC works and discusses selected design features and advantages.

San Francisco Floating Fire Station 35: Overview and Lessons Learned

The San Francisco Fire Department acquired a new floating fire station at Pier 22 ½ for their fireboat fleet. The floating station design is unique, having a steel float with an attached building that houses personnel at the station full time, accommodates sea-level rise, and is designed as an essential facility with a 50-year design life. This presentation discusses that even though this project was unusual, many of the items to consider and lessons learned can be applied to improve designs on more typical projects, such as ferry terminals.

PED Crane and Infrastructure Upgrade Project: Overview and Lessons Learned

This presentation provides an overview of a recently completed low profile crane project at Port Everglades involving procurement of three of the largest low profile cranes in the world and installation of a new crane rail girder system to support these cranes. The presentation describes an overview of the project including crane and girder systems, design and construction issues encountered, and key lessons learned.

STS Crane Stowage Design: Key Considerations and Case Study

There have been devastating ship-to-shore crane failures due to failure of the stowage systems during hurricanes. The design of these systems is complex, requiring an understanding of how the wharf stowage hardware interfaces with the crane hardware, both to facilitate connecting and disconnecting the hardware, and to account for subtle but significant loading conditions that occur. This presentation aims to provide a broad knowledge base for designers of such systems and presents a recent project case study to illustrate some design and construction challenges. 

Justify Larger Crane Girder Capacity

Presented by Erik Soderberg at the Port Equipment Manufacturers Association (PEMA) 2020 Technical Webinar titled “Views and technical challenges for the new generation of ship-to-shore and yard cranes.”