Super crane construction begins at Spinningfields
THE first of three tower cranes is set to appear on the Manchester skyline as work on Allied London’s £73m No 1 Spinningfields project continues.
BAM’s construction of the 117-metre high crane began at the weekend and was complete by Sunday.
The crane will remain in place for 63 weeks and when it is taken down it will have climbed twice to a height of 165 metres, just four metres below Manchester’s tallest landmark, Beetham Tower.
The process drew a crowd of onlookers throughout the day who marvelled at the scale of the operation and in particular the team involved who were working at height.
Tony Grindrod, the construction director for BAM, said: “This is a big milestone for the project and it’s great that people are so interested in what we’re doing here.
“Our team did a fantastic job of getting the crane up over the weekend in the heart of the city centre with minimal disruption.
“Workers from our subcontractor, Select Plant, certainly showed their bravery to people in Manchester while working at such a height, and we would like to reassure people that they are fully trained and extremely well experienced in all the required safety precautions, remaining fully harnessed at all times.”
The scale of Allied London’s commercial office development was made further evident last week, with an unprecedented concrete pour to form the ‘core 1 base’ for the 24-storey structure.
Some150 wagons successively poured more than 860 cubic metres during the massive logistics exercise, the equivalent of 2150 tonnes when set.
Grindrod added: “The No1 Spinningfields project will gather pace in the new year when the structural steelwork starts to emerge from the basement and follow the concrete core up the building with a workforce of over 600 expected to be involved in the project at its peak.”
Allied London development director Graham Skinner said: “It is great to see that we are on schedule with the construction programme for No.1 Spinningfields, which will be a world-class commercial office building in one of Europe’s most successful regeneration developments.
“Allied London is delivering what will be the finest and highest specified business environment in Manchester with a rooftop bar, restaurant and terrace, a premium business lounge, innovative amenity and flexible fit-out options.”
