Dutch heavy lift specialist Mammoet used modular installation techniques at the recently completed Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Cultural District.
The museum’s outer structure has five falcon wing-shaped towers, which draw cool air into the building’s interior.
Mammoet used an SK series crane, one of the world’s biggest, to install four pod-shaped gallery units on the base of the wings, which were prefabricated on site at ground level and then lifted and installed.
The crane’s large operating radius – thanks to its 135-metre main boom – let Mammoet position it away from the busiest construction zones, staying clear of tower cranes while placing the pods inside the structure.
It was rigged first in the SK350 configuration and then moved and reconfigured into the SK190 configuration.
Lifts were executed with wind speeds limited to 14 m/s and only under a decreasing forecast.
The heaviest lift reached 612 tonnes, with a working lift radius of over 150 meters. The SK crane maintained a worst-case ground bearing pressure of 26.9 t/m² during the lifts.
Mammoet engineered bespoke adjustable rigging using strand jacks, allowing controlled tilting, fine adjustment and rotation from fabrication orientation to final installation orientation.
The pods sit above the top-lit central lobby, which is set into the ground to support thermal performance.
Besix and Trojan General Contracting were the general contractors on the project.
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