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02/22/2007: "Bellvue North? Big Time Bld In FH"

The Todd commercial and residential condominium project in Friday Harbor took another step on Wednesday toward beginning actual construction, when a large crane unfolded before fascinated onlookers. While the crane may appear to a layperson as being a smaller version of the type of crane that recently made headlines in Bellvue when it fell over, this one is not assembled on site, but simply unfolds and expands in height like some huge weird Japanese toy.

Pat Bartell of Coast Crane said the crane is 78 feet high from the base to the top, and has a horizontal reach of 131 feet to the tip of the jib. The base for the crane is over 20 feet above street level, so the vertical lift from the street is almost 100 feet. The crane can lift over 4 tons near the vertical tower, and over a ton at the very end of the 131 foot jib (i.e. the horizontal part).

A couple of other features that sets this crane apart from its big brothers is how it is attached to the concrete pad that it sits on: it's not attached, but simply relies on the weight of the crane, and the counter weights at the back of the crane, to hold it in place. The other major difference is it is remote controlled by a small control box. This allows the crane to be operated from anywhere on the job site.

It only took about two hours to unload it from a truck, place it on the concrete pad, and then with a push of a button it automatically unfolded to the configuration shown above. The only good news for Vinny's Restaurant about this part of the construction project, is that they have been promised one of the first jobs for the crane will be its use to hold a window cleaner up to the windows so the construction dust can be removed off of Vinny's windows. Seems like the least they can do, since once the project is completed, the views from Vinny's windows will be the side of the new building.

Photos of it unfolding can be seen in the "rest of the article" below: