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Junction construction

Two Liebherr mobile cranes and four Atlas Copco compressors are playing an important role in upgrades to a highway in Brazilian city São Paolo.
February 7, 2012 Read time: 3 mins
Two Liebherr cranes and four Atlas Copco compressors are carrying out important duties on a road upgrade project in Brazil
Two 718 Liebherr mobile cranes and four 161 Atlas Copco compressors are playing an important role in upgrades to a highway in Brazilian city São Paolo. 1564 CCR Autoban is using the Liebherr all-terrain cranes to lift the concrete-and-steel beams for a new cloverleaf junction being built on the Anhangüera Highway, one of the city's main road links. The machines were supplied by heavy-lift specialist IV Guindastes, which is one of Brazil's largest crane hire firms. The cranes are an LTM1500-8.1 with a maximum lift of 500tonnes and an LTM1220-5.2 with a lifting capacity of 242tonnes.

The Anhangüera Highway is being upgraded along a 6km stretch by highway concessionaire CCR Autoban, working under ARTESP (Agencia de Transporte do Estado de Sao Paulo). The project calls for the construction of three new clover interchanges, the upgrading of two others, and the construction of 14km of slip roads. Also included is the installation of five pedestrian bridges, and ancillary works.

The two Liebherr cranes are working on an interchange that will ease the flow of traffic where Mutinga Avenue, one of the main thoroughfares of the Pirituba and Santo Domingo districts in São Paulo, is bisected by the Anhangüera Highway.
The cranes are handling loads of up to 80tonnes, for the largest of the beams, with smaller beams weighing around 60tonnes. The cranes arrived on site in June 2010 and are being employed on a night time service since the roads are closed throughout lifting operations.

Meanwhile the four Atlas Copco compressors are being used by 1563 Serveng Civilsan to power equipment and clean machines being used on the highway.

The oil-injected, rotary screw, portable compressors are owned by sub-contractor Serveng Civilsan and are being used for multiple tasks including sand-blasting and powering small tools. An XAS77 compressor is being used at the base of the new interchange, while another XAS77 is located at Serveng Civilsan's workshop at the start of the section. Meanwhile two XAS137 units are located in the centre of the project, beside the main highway, where they are working side-by-side.

ARTESP is investing a total of US$150 million to upgrade the main junctions on Anhangüera Highway. This route is one of the most important highways in the State of Sao Paulo, and one of the busiest roads in Brazil, as it connects the state capital to the Campinas region, one of the economic hubs of the country. Mutinga Avenue is one of the main avenues of the neighbourhoods of Pirituba and Santo Domingo in São Paulo. The roads starts at Pirituba railway station and apart from being cut by the Anhanguera Highway, ends at Ribeirão Vermelho, on the border with the city of Osasco. CCR Autoban has the highway concession under contract to the São Paulo government, which is scheduled to end in 2026.

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