“Yeah, it’s a beast,” said a PCL supervisor on Thursday about the tower crane that’s going up in downtown Juneau. The crane is being erected for SLAM, or the State Library, Archives, and Museum project that’s underway behind the current Alaska State Museum.
PCL employees say the crane will be as high as 160 feet with the cab at about 138 feet. The crane arm will be capable of lifting a maximum load of 30,000 pounds, or as much as 6,000 pounds at the end of its 230 foot reach. The tower crane will remain on site for two years during the construction of SLAM.
Once the tower crane is erected, then the big red mobile crane currently on the construction site will be dismantled and driven away.
When finished, the tower crane will not be the tallest structure in Juneau. For comparison, the antenna on top of the Juneau Federal Building reaches as high as 221.5 feet. Building managers say the top of the penthouse is at 196 feet. According to aviation sectional maps, the Douglas Island radio tower (accross Gastineau Channel from Harris and Aurora Harbors) is 278 feet tall and the Salmon Creek radio tower is 325 feet tall.
Previous stories on the project:
Formal groundbreaking for SLAM project
Another groundbreaking for SLAM
SLAM construction set to begin this summer
Shoveling for SLAM
