The biggest floating crane in the West
In the world of construction, the biggest is often not the biggest for long, but for now the "Left Coast Lifter" continues to retain its crown as the largest floating crane on the West Coast.
This beast of a machine sports 2 full miles of cabling, and can pick up 1,700 tons with relative ease. To put that in perspective, the part that's been moved this weekend is around 3,200 tons--but none of that is dangling from cables.
"Lefty" as it's affectionately referred to by construction workers, was custom-designed for the Bay Bridge job, and costs somewhere in the ballpark of $50 million. Its two parts, both the barge and the crane, were constructed in Oregon and Shanghai, China, respectively, and will be used to hoist up sections of the suspension bridge.
September 5, 2009 4:00 AM PDT
Photo by: Josh Lowensohn/CNET
