Mammoet developed a mobile floating crane concept by placing an MTC-15 crane on a barge. It is being used to build the 1.2km Shura Island Bridge which will be used to access the Red Sea Project on Saudi Arabia’s west coast.

The Red Sea Project, led by The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), is scheduled to be completed in 2030. This tourism and hospitality project will comprise of 50 hotels, and 1,300 residential properties across an archipelago of 22 islands and six inland sites. The Shura island bridge, designed by Archirodon, will provide access to the facilities from the mainland.

Mammoet was contracted to install 60 precast bridge-beam and edge-beam segments from the precast yard near the coast, onto piers. The elements were first brought to the jetty with SPMT, onto which they were lifted by an SBL1100 hydraulic gantry. From there, Mammoet used an MTC 15 crane placed onto an Archirodon 210-class barge, thus creating a 500-tonne capacity containerized floating sheer leg with an outreach of 30m. The MTC 15 was shipped to the Port of Yanbu in a container, assembled, and then sailed via barge to the project site in Umluj, where its boom was raised.

Sustainability measures taken include using a local barge, recycling crane parts to build the MTC 15, using local sand and water as ballast, and building during the day hours in order to protect the marine habitat.