Thai Obayashi field six Liebherr tower cranes for Bangkok’s residential mega project
Thai Obayashi Corporation is constructing Langsuan Village, the largest residential project to be built on Bangkok’s central business district, relying on six Liebherr tower cranes.
Thai Obayashi Corporation has deployed six Liebherr tower cranes for its contract for the construction of Langsuan Village; the largest residential development to be built in Bangkok’s central business district.
The units, five of which are luffing jib cranes and the sixth a top-slewing unit, are all being used under a rental agreement with Liebherr’s distributor for Thailand, STIT Co Ltd.
The six cranes comprise four 125 HC-L units, one 200 EC-H, and a 160 HC-L; with one of the 125 HC-L units being purpose-delivered for this project through Liebherr Singapore.
Langsuan Village is located in the central business district of Bangkok, directly adjacent to Lumpini Park, the inner city’s largest public park.
Covering a complete city block of 9 ha, and stretching for 300 m along the length of the main thoroughfare of Langsuan Road, the development is one of the most significant seen in the city centre for many years, setting new architectural standards with a low-density ratio and generous green spaces.
The project, which is due for completion in 2019, will feature a total of nine structures, includIng residential blocks, a 200-room international hotel, a five-storey art museum, a five-storey health centre, and the Langsuan Walking Street retail plaza.
Walking Street is a three-storey outdoor mall, totalling 6,958 m² of saleable area, and planned organically to blend with Lumpini Park.
The total cost of construction, excluding land, is 26 billion baht (about USD750 million).
The project is also unusual in that the Crown Property Bureau, which manages land and property owned by the Thai royal family, is for the first time in its history acting as a property developer, rather than a de facto landlord. CPB subsidiary Siam Sindhorn Company is managing the project.
The CPB explains this is to ensure that the development retains a spacious, park-like quality that may not have been achievable had the project been ceded to local developers who would need to maximise their profit. Parks and gardens will take up some 2.5 ha of the land.
Thai Obayashi project manager Chaowanun Phaongern-ngam says that the Liebherr cranes were moved onto the site at the beginning of this year, once the foundations for the project had been completed. The underground space will later form a three-storey-deep parking space for 1,500 vehicles.
“We are using one 125 HC-L crane to build the Langsuan Parkview Residence tower, which is located right beside Sarasin Road and consequently we cannot overfly the site boundary with our jib,” he says.
“We are also using a Liebherr 125 HC-L unit on the Tonson Parkview Residence tower, this time to avoid overflying Tonson Road.”
Tonson Park View Residence will have only 40 units sized from 80 m², while Langsuan Park View Residence will have only 20 units sized from 200 m².
“Two further Liebherr 125 HC-L units, a 160 HC-L unit, and a top-slewing crane 200 EC-H are being used to construct the main residential element of Sindhorn Residence, along with neighbouring structures,” says Mr Chaowanun.
Sindhorn Residence comprises two towers, one 35-storeys and one 10-storeys.
The 125 HC-L has a 50 m jib and can handle a maximum load of 12 t. With a considerable amount of heavy lifting on the project, due to a substantial volume of precast concrete elements, these units are likely to be lifting loads up to 8 or 9 t.
The 160 HC-L luffing jib unit has a maximum lift of 16 t, or 2 t when the 55 m jib is fully extended.
With a top lifting load of 10 t, and a 60 m jib that can support 2.65 t at its tip, the Liebherr 200 EC-H top slewing crane is also a heavy lifter.
The total of approximately 1,700 residential units will add between 4,000 and 5,000 residents to this previously quiet corner of the business district, which had been home to old houses, small shops, and neighbourhood restaurants.
