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Press, 21 July 1976, Page 17

Dwarfing both the people and vehicles around it, this overhead travelling crane—the biggest built in New Zealand—is destined for the main turbine hall of the Huntly Power Station. Built in Auckland by Mason Mesco. Ltd, the crane, with its twin. 43.91-metre steel girders, is shown mounted on a short test track during an inspection by a visiting team of engineers from the power project. A second, almost identical, crane is now under construction in Auckland and when completed it will join the first at Huntly. The first crane is the master unit and will carry the operator's cab slung beneath, allowing an uninterrupted view of the lift area. The second is a slave crane. They will operate along a 260-metre runway in the turbine hall and may be used independently, or in tandem. Each has an 85-tonne lifting capacity on its main hoist and. through the use of a common lifting beam, may be used together to produce a lift of 170 tonnes. Each main girder—there are four in all —weighs nearly 50 tonnes and will be erected immediately upon arrival at the power station site, using mobile cranes inside the turbine hall. Initially, the cranes will be used for installation of generating equipment during the five-year construction phase and. afterwards, for servicing and maintenance. Appropriately, they are powered entirely by electricity.