Heavy Equipment

Sarens Unveils the World’s Largest Heavy-Lift Crane

The SGC 250 boasts a load moment of 250,000 metric tons.

Updated on

July 27, 2023

(Nov. 09, 2018): – Sarens has unveiled a massive crane, the SGC 250, which is billed as the world’s largest land-based crane by both size and capacity.

Sarens SGC-250 has taken over the title from ‘Bigger Benny’ (SGC 140), which has been the biggest heavy-lift crane in the Belgian company’s stable.

Christened ‘Big Carl’ after Carl Sarens, the company’s director of technical solutions, the SGC 250 boasts a load moment of 250,000 metric tons, which gives it a 5,000-ton lifting capacity on the main boom at a radius of 40 meters.

The SGC 250 boasts remarkable specifications for heavy lifting operations.

On the jib, it can handle a maximum capacity of 1,781 tons. It extends up to 100 meters, offering a maximum height of 250 meters with a radius of 275 meters.

At a radius of 100 meters, the giant crane can lift 2,000 tons, and at 165 meters, the capacity is 775 tons.

The machine’s ground pressure stays under 25 t/m² due to the large number of wheels on its four bogies that run on the double-ring beam and spreader mats.

Sarens SGC 250 is fitted with 128 wheels for slewing and lifting and another 96 wheels for traveling. It can operate with two blocks—one on the main boom and another on the jib—which enhances job site coverage.

The main hook block weighs 105 tons, with a safe working load (SWL) of 3,200 tons, while the jib hook weighs 58 tons, with a SWL of 1,600 tons.

The SGC 250 has already clinched its first job at the Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Plant in the UK, one of the largest construction projects in the world.

With its ability to relocate, fully rigged, from one lifting position to another, the SGC-250 has brought precedent-breaking innovation to the global crane industry.

The SGC 140 has taken over the title from ‘Big Benny’. PHOTO | COURTESY

“Without a doubt, it’s the ability to relocate the fully-rigged crane on-site from one lifting position to another. This is not unique to Sarens, but to the entire global crane industry,” Carl Sarens said.

“The crane has two sets of wheels: one for slewing 360° and one for traveling. The second set is hydraulically retractable and is pushed out whenever the crane needs to travel.”

To enhance safety, the SGC 250 has a full redundancy system for slewing and hoisting operations, powered by 12 310 kW, Tier 4 compliant Cat engines (divided into six power packs) interconnected for maximum reliability.

According to Sarens, the new crane was inspired by the increasing trend towards modularisation and the move away from stick-built construction.

“Instead of putting a refinery together piece by piece, our clients now prefer to pre-assemble large portions, or modules, in a controlled environment and then transport and lift them into their final position. Because of their weight, these modules require higher lifting capacities,” the official said.

Sarens is one of the biggest heavy-lifting specialists in the world. The firm operates in 65 countries and has traditionally relied on top-tier manufacturers such as Liebherr of Switzerland to supply it with equipment.

However, in 2011, the company began operating “Big Benny” (SGC 120), the first heavy-lift crane designed and fabricated. The SGC 120 has a maximum lift of 3,200 tonnes, the weight of about 250 double-decker buses.