1600-ton crawler crane lifts 300-ton \"flying saucer\" dome for power plant silo

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At 8:16 on January 18, more good news came in from the construction site of the power plant project at the Zhoushan branch of China National Coal Group’s East China division. Following the successful lifting of the dome of Silo No. 1 on January 10 – Asia’s largest composite silo – the 300-ton \"disc-shaped\" dome of Silo No. 2 was slowly raised amidst the roar of a 1,600-ton crawler crane. After just 77 minutes of efficient and precise work, at 9:33, the dome was placed in position with millimeter-level accuracy, marking the successful completion of all the key lifting tasks related to the two main silos in the power plant’s coal storage system. The project has now entered its final phase of implementation. It is reported that the dome structure of Silo No. 2 has the same specifications as Silo No. 1: its bottom diameter is 52 meters, its top diameter is 15 meters, and its height is 19.5 meters. The lifting weight of 300 tons also presents the dual challenges of maintaining balance at such a great height and dealing with the effects of marine monsoons. Building on the widespread use of BIM technology for lifting operations at Site 1, the project team has added a dynamic simulation module for concurrent tasks, enabling precise planning of lifting paths through 1:1 3D models to address construction conflict risks in advance. The 1,600-ton crawler crane, which is the key equipment on site, performed steadily. Together with the upgraded high-precision real-time monitoring system, it was able to capture data on the lifting posture and forces with precision at the microsecond level, enabling intelligent dynamic control of wind conditions and the balance of the lifted load. Leveraging the synergy developed through their first collaboration, the 50 workers divided their tasks clearly and worked in smooth coordination; from lifting and rotating the structure in the air to positioning it precisely, everything proceeded smoothly. As a result, the entire process took 43 minutes less than that required for Silo No. 1, setting a new record for the efficiency of lifting silo domes of this type in power plants of similar specifications.