high-flying albatros

JANUARY 2012 EARTHMOVERS 1

With over 150 machines now out at work since production started in the early 1990s, Belgianengineering company Indusign/E-Crane Worldwide has built up quite a reputation for itssturdily-built range of equilibrium cranes.

Using parts sourced from a wide range of suppliers, the company offers the 700, 1000, 1500,2000 and 3000 series. All are assembled at the Indusign’s European headquarters at Adegem, not

far from Ghent. While half end up working in scrap yards, these popular balance cranes continueto find favour with a growing number of ports for materials handling duties.

Most of the 10 to 15 machines made each year are supplied to customers in North Americaand Europe, generally working well away from prying eyes. That is with one exception,

because the company is currently enjoying worldwide acclaim following the commissioningof a phenomenal 1200-tonne machine at the Maasvlakte 2 project in the Port of Rotterdam.

Called the Blockbuster, it is capable of pinpoint accuracy placement of 45-tonne concreteblocks at a maximum reach of 50m!

Extreme machine

HIGH-FLYINGALBATROS

A one-of-a-kind floating marvel is currently helping to completethe second of two new breakwaters at the Belgian Port ofOstend. Steven Vale boards the pontoon for a first-hand lookat a machine.

The Albatros is the latest creationfrom Belgian company E-Crane.All told, the pontoon and crane tipthe scales at over 900 tonnes.

Albatross:Layout 1 7/11/11 13:36

FIRST IMPRESSIONSThis latest water-going earthmover differs from allcurrent underwater diggers in a number of ways.First, it is able to travel unassisted at sea. Tuckedaway below deck, a pair of 603hp Volvo Pentaengines provide to power the rear thrust boosters.Up front extra thrust comes from a 348kW Omegaengine to provide the pontoon with plenty of powerand flexibility, allowing it to change position quickly,even in gale force winds.

This self-propelled nature is a big bonus at theOstend job. When forced to retreat during badweather, the vessel has managed to fit in anotherjob at a more sheltered location on the RiverSchelde in Antwerp – a journey that takes eight tonine hours. Here, the self-propelled nature gives itimmense flexibility. All the crew has to do is raisethe spuds, and start the engines. There is no need towait for a tow.

Second, there are no massive fuel-guzzlingdiesel engines pumping away at the heart of the E-Dredger. Instead, the hydro-electric machinetakes its power from the same 603hp Volvo Pentaengines used to propel the pontoon. This dieselpower is used to harness a 225kW electric motor,which powers the E-Dredger’s hydraulic systems.

While Blockbuster, and its job to handle over 21,000 blocks, continues toattract plenty of attention, it is worth sparing a thought for another equally newE-Crane currently working a couple of hours drive south. The blocks may be a tadlighter, and the reach a bit less, but this latest creation is another machine worthyof the extreme status.

Secured to the rear of a pontoon called the Albatros, the striking newcomer iscurrently raising eyebrows in the Port of Ostend at a job site featured in a recentissue of EARTHMOVERS. At the time, the focus was on the trio of large excavatorsthat are speeding ahead laying the backbone for the second of two new, chunkybreakwaters at the popular Belgian port. While the Liebherr R974, Sennebogen870 and Hitachi EX1200 are without doubt the star attractions of the land works,the water is the domain of a the Albatros – a truly spectacular machine.

At high tide, the Albatros floats into position to get on with the job ofpositioning 15-tonne HARO blocks. When you see it for the first time it is difficultto know whether to describe the machine it carries – the first 1500B Series E-Crane to be put on to a self-propelled spud barge – as an excavator or a crane.It appears to be a bit of a marriage between the two.

Dubbed the E-Dredger, the 10290B on which it is basedoffers a lift capacity of 15 tonnes and a maximum horizontalreach of 29m. Combining an 18.75m boom with an 11.6m stick,the on-land version of this machine has a service weight of 165tonnes. Even on the pontoon, the top half still tips the scales ata hefty 120 tonnes.

The one-of-a-kind machine was originally built for Belgian companyKraaijenveld, which belongs to parent company Herbosch-Kiere, an Antwerp-based shipping and salvage company. Active in marine and civil engineering, anddemolition, this company in turn is owned by Brussels-based Softcom – part ofthe French Eiffage group.

Over the years Herbosch-Kiere has built up an impressive portfolio, includingjobs such as the salvage of notorious ships the Herald of Free Enterprise andTricolor. Through its British subsidiary, Chiswick-based Herbosch-Kiere MarineContractors, it has also carried out piling works in connection with the LondonUnderground.

The Ostend job is another major challenge. Working in tidal waters is nevereasy, limiting the time the pontoon can spend at the job site to just a few hoursat a go. Requiring a minimum water depth of 1.6m under the keel, sometimesafter just four hours at the current site it has to retreat to beat the receding tide.

Commissioned in early 2009, the pontoon it is coupled to is equally large and the design of Herbosch-Kiere project engineer Roger de Corte. The threeunbelievably large spuds allow the pontoon to operate in a maximum water depthof 25m. An in-house design, the basic structure was built in China. If the 50m-long x 15m-wide device were lifted out of the water and placed on a weighbridge,it would top 900 tonnes. This figure includes the E-Dredger’s weapons armoury,the majority of which were made by Dutch-firm J&G Grabs. They include a3.5cu.m round-nose grab, which even empty weighs over nine tonnes, and a5.5cu.m clamshell.

Over the past few years we have featured quite a number of massivebackhoe dredgers, fitted to pontoons with impressive names such as Nordic Giant(Liebherr P995), Maricavor (Komatsu PC3000) and Pinocchio (Liebherr P996). Not

long ago, the latter had the unenviable task of digging upunexploded bombs and mines left on the seabed at Ostendfollowing the two world wars. The dredging works nowcomplete, Pinocchio has long gone leaving the Albatros toline the new breakwaters.

Main Picture and Top Left: Cunninglysimple, the equilibrium design relies on a 60-tonne rear counterweight to balancethe boom, stick, attachment and material.


The compact nature of this set-up makes it ideal for maintenance dredging applications; it can even gounder low bridges

The E-Dredger takes its power from the same Volvo Penta engines used to propel the pontoon.

When fully stretched, the E-Dredger reaches to 29m. At this length it is still easily capable of lifting 15-tonne blocks.


FIRST IMPRESSIONSThis latest water-going earthmover differs from allcurrent underwater diggers in a number of ways.First, it is able to travel unassisted at sea. Tuckedaway below deck, a pair of 603hp Volvo Pentaengines provide to power the rear thrust boosters.Up front extra thrust comes from a 348kW Omegaengine to provide the pontoon with plenty of powerand flexibility, allowing it to change position quickly,even in gale force winds.

This self-propelled nature is a big bonus at theOstend job. When forced to retreat during badweather, the vessel has managed to fit in anotherjob at a more sheltered location on the RiverSchelde in Antwerp – a journey that takes eight tonine hours. Here, the self-propelled nature gives itimmense flexibility. All the crew has to do is raisethe spuds, and start the engines. There is no need towait for a tow.

Second, there are no massive fuel-guzzlingdiesel engines pumping away at the heart of the E-Dredger. Instead, the hydro-electric machinetakes its power from the same 603hp Volvo Pentaengines used to propel the pontoon. This dieselpower is used to harness a 225kW electric motor,which powers the E-Dredger’s hydraulic systems.

While Blockbuster, and its job to handle over 21,000 blocks, continues toattract plenty of attention, it is worth sparing a thought for another equally newE-Crane currently working a couple of hours drive south. The blocks may be a tadlighter, and the reach a bit less, but this latest creation is another machine worthyof the extreme status.

Secured to the rear of a pontoon called the Albatros, the striking newcomer iscurrently raising eyebrows in the Port of Ostend at a job site featured in a recentissue of EARTHMOVERS. At the time, the focus was on the trio of large excavatorsthat are speeding ahead laying the backbone for the second of two new, chunkybreakwaters at the popular Belgian port. While the Liebherr R974, Sennebogen870 and Hitachi EX1200 are without doubt the star attractions of the land works,the water is the domain of a the Albatros – a truly spectacular machine.

At high tide, the Albatros floats into position to get on with the job ofpositioning 15-tonne HARO blocks. When you see it for the first time it is difficultto know whether to describe the machine it carries – the first 1500B Series E-Crane to be put on to a self-propelled spud barge – as an excavator or a crane.It appears to be a bit of a marriage between the two.

Dubbed the E-Dredger, the 10290B on which it is basedoffers a lift capacity of 15 tonnes and a maximum horizontalreach of 29m. Combining an 18.75m boom with an 11.6m stick,the on-land version of this machine has a service weight of 165tonnes. Even on the pontoon, the top half still tips the scales ata hefty 120 tonnes.

The one-of-a-kind machine was originally built for Belgian companyKraaijenveld, which belongs to parent company Herbosch-Kiere, an Antwerp-based shipping and salvage company. Active in marine and civil engineering, anddemolition, this company in turn is owned by Brussels-based Softcom – part ofthe French Eiffage group.

Over the years Herbosch-Kiere has built up an impressive portfolio, includingjobs such as the salvage of notorious ships the Herald of Free Enterprise andTricolor. Through its British subsidiary, Chiswick-based Herbosch-Kiere MarineContractors, it has also carried out piling works in connection with the LondonUnderground.

The Ostend job is another major challenge. Working in tidal waters is nevereasy, limiting the time the pontoon can spend at the job site to just a few hoursat a go. Requiring a minimum water depth of 1.6m under the keel, sometimesafter just four hours at the current site it has to retreat to beat the receding tide.

Commissioned in early 2009, the pontoon it is coupled to is equally large and the design of Herbosch-Kiere project engineer Roger de Corte. The threeunbelievably large spuds allow the pontoon to operate in a maximum water depthof 25m. An in-house design, the basic structure was built in China. If the 50m-long x 15m-wide device were lifted out of the water and placed on a weighbridge,it would top 900 tonnes. This figure includes the E-Dredger’s weapons armoury,the majority of which were made by Dutch-firm J&G Grabs. They include a3.5cu.m round-nose grab, which even empty weighs over nine tonnes, and a5.5cu.m clamshell.

Over the past few years we have featured quite a number of massivebackhoe dredgers, fitted to pontoons with impressive names such as Nordic Giant(Liebherr P995), Maricavor (Komatsu PC3000) and Pinocchio (Liebherr P996). Not

long ago, the latter had the unenviable task of digging upunexploded bombs and mines left on the seabed at Ostendfollowing the two world wars. The dredging works nowcomplete, Pinocchio has long gone leaving the Albatros toline the new breakwaters.

Main Picture and Top Left: Cunninglysimple, the equilibrium design relies on a 60-tonne rear counterweight to balancethe boom, stick, attachment and material.


The compact nature of this set-up makes it ideal for maintenance dredging applications; it can even gounder low bridges

The E-Dredger takes its power from the same Volvo Penta engines used to propel the pontoon.

When fully stretched, the E-Dredger reaches to 29m. At this length it is still easily capable of lifting 15-tonne blocks.

Albatross:Layout 1 7/11/11 13:36 Page 2

angle, while sophisticated computer aids show himexactly which grid to place a block into.

Despite these two main aids, daily output islargely governed on the availability of a vessel toremove an empty barge – which when full carries60 blocks – and replacing it with another one, a jobthat often takes a few hours. Because of this theAlbatros operator reckons to shift 60 blocks duringa 12-hour shift. However, his best day so far was140 blocks.

DREDGING POTENTIALWhen the current block-laying job is done, themachine could once again be called on to dredge.As a dredger the E-Dredger has a couple of niftyfeatures. For instance, the open design of the stickis interesting. Featuring a series of holes, theconstruction is claimed to eliminate any buoyancyproblems when it dips under water.

Then there is the automatic E-Dredger Superliftmode, which helps to reduce the need to dischargematerial from an overloaded grab when exiting thewater. As a rule, when a fully loaded grab breaks the surface the weight increases so it is commonpractice to open the tines slightly to dump some ofthe material. Not anymore because in the workingmode the system senses the extra weight andautomatically shifts to the Superlift mode to assurethe grab can still be handled.

Working at a lower speed to reduce the dynamiceffects on the E-Dredger, this is a useful featurewhen dredging in polluted areas where opening agrab could release material into the waterway.

Operator Rene Hoffmans confirms that whencompared to excavator-based backhoe dredgers,the machine is amazingly quiet; a useful featurewhen working closer to shore near residentialareas. This quiet running nature is not limited just tothe exterior because noise levels inside the cab arean incredibly low 20 decibels.

“The only noises I can hear in the cab are thewhirring of the computers and the humming of theheater,” he says.

Another notable feature is the Albatros’ compactnature. With the cab lowered, the package sits quitelow on the deck, allowing it to squeeze under evenquite low bridges and obstructions, while thetailswing is just 7.5m.

Finally, the most obvious difference between theAlbatros and all the other pontoon-based machineswe have featured during recent years is the lack of

boom and stick cylinders. Instead, E stands forequilibrium, and a key feature of the parallelogram-style boom is that it provides a direct mechanicallink between the stick and rear counterweight. Alsoreferred to as a balance crane, there are no steelwinches or cables.

While the boom has a single main lift ram thereare none on the stick. Instead, as the stick is raisedor lowered, the operator is actually changing theposition of a pair of hydraulic rams on the 60-tonnerear ballast block. This counter-balances the boom,stick and grab, with gravity doing much of the heavywork.

There are many benefits, one of which is thebalanced nature helps to minimise tipping whenfully loaded, which the manufacturer reckonsmeans it can be mounted to any type of barge, evenones without spud poles.

Herbosch-Kiere has already put this claim to thetest. After raising the spud poles at the dredging jobin Rotterdam when the fully-loaded 5.5cu.m clamshell was lifted clear of the water it was extended to27m.

“The pontoon tilted by just 20cm,” says Rene.“We need the spud poles to ensure the pontoonremains in position in tidal waters.”

Other benefits include the fact that the low powerrequirement of a maximum of 200kW (300hp) leadsto significant fuel savings when compared to otherfloating diggers, the E-Dredger consuming just 35 lit/hr.

However, perhaps the single most importantbenefit is that conventional cranes often need up tothree-quarters of their available power just to movethe boom, stick and tool. E-Cranes are claimed toreduce this power requirement by half.

It clearly appears to be a win-win situation.However, one disadvantage to the self-propellednature of the vessel is that it needs a captain and acrew of four, whereas most other backhoe dredgerscan get away with the slightly cheaper option of abarge master and two further staff.

Albatros skipper Henk Hakvoort not onlycontrols the pontoon’s movements, but also raisesand lowers the three spuds from the bridge, a jobnormally carried out from the excavator cab.

This leaves the E-Dredger operator free toconcentrate on the job in hand. Rene is providedwith two underwater aids. The first, a simple 5m-long flag pole attached to the tool, provides him witha rough idea that a block is lying at the correct

A special operator for a special machine

For the past 42 years operator Rene Hoffmans has built up a wealth of knowledge behind excavator controls,initially with wheeled Atlas and Poclain machines, followed by longer stints with larger tracked excavators,including a Komatsu PC650 and Hitachi EX800.

For the past 22 years he has worked in the dredging world, with his major claim to fame being eightmonths behind the controls of the Komatsu PC3000 mounted to the pontoon Maricavor at job sites in Denmarkand St Petersburg.

Three years ago, he was approached by Herbosch-Kiere who was seeking an operator for the E-Dredger.They were looking for someone who was not afraid to work long 12- to 13-hour days, and prepared to travel.Rene was keen to accept the challenge.

He soon discovered that the E-Dredger was a completely different animal than what he was used to sittingon. “It is much lighter than the Maricavor and cannot dig with a backhoe bucket,” he says.

However, he quickly warmed to his new role, and now finds the E-Dredger exhilarating.“With a fully loaded bucket, the Maricavor’s boom and stick have to be drawn up close to the front of the

excavator before it can be swung. The E-Dredger has no problems lifting 15 tonnes and swivelling even whenthe boom is fully extended to 27m.

“During 42 years of excavator driving I have to admit that I have never sat on such a fantastic andcomfortable machine.”


“The system slows the speed of movements,but it does work,” says Rene.

The Belgian manufacturer is clearly excited byits latest creation and not just with the fact that it has proved its value in accurately positioningconcrete blocks at depth and reach, but also with itsability to perform a multitude of other tasks. Whenthe pontoon first took to the water in late 2009 itsfirst job was dredging the Port of Rotterdam, andsince then it has often been used for dredgingpurposes, and the Belgian manufacturer is keen topromote its capability of dredging to depths of 19m.

Strictly speaking, the Albatros is not the first E-Crane to go on to a pontoon for underwater digging.A decade ago, a pair of older 1000 series machineswere married to pontoons for a Dutch dredgingspecialist. The first spends all its time in the MiddleEast, and by all accounts has given good service.

Herbosch-Kiere fully expects to get 50 years ofservice from the pontoon. With a few electricalchanges along the way E-Crane says there is noreason why the E-Dredger should not be able toprovide the same length of service. What’s more, ifthe company fails to obtain sufficient dredgingworks, then the customer always has the option toremove the machine from the pontoon and reunite itwith its bottom half.

Above and Below: Using a specially-designed clampmade in Italy by Negrini, the E-Dredger has noproblems whatever shifting 15-tonne HARO blocks.

The hollow structure of the dipper stickis designed to overcome buoyancyissues when working underwater

Left: Operator Rene Hoffmans with the J&B-made 3.5cu.m round-nose grab. Fitted withfour-cylinders, it is designed to work in very hard soils with a pressure of 400kg/sq.cm.

The self-propelled nature is a bigfeature of the E-Dredger, allowingit to travel all over the worldunder its own steam.


angle, while sophisticated computer aids show himexactly which grid to place a block into.

Despite these two main aids, daily output islargely governed on the availability of a vessel toremove an empty barge – which when full carries60 blocks – and replacing it with another one, a jobthat often takes a few hours. Because of this theAlbatros operator reckons to shift 60 blocks duringa 12-hour shift. However, his best day so far was140 blocks.

DREDGING POTENTIALWhen the current block-laying job is done, themachine could once again be called on to dredge.As a dredger the E-Dredger has a couple of niftyfeatures. For instance, the open design of the stickis interesting. Featuring a series of holes, theconstruction is claimed to eliminate any buoyancyproblems when it dips under water.

Then there is the automatic E-Dredger Superliftmode, which helps to reduce the need to dischargematerial from an overloaded grab when exiting thewater. As a rule, when a fully loaded grab breaks the surface the weight increases so it is commonpractice to open the tines slightly to dump some ofthe material. Not anymore because in the workingmode the system senses the extra weight andautomatically shifts to the Superlift mode to assurethe grab can still be handled.

Working at a lower speed to reduce the dynamiceffects on the E-Dredger, this is a useful featurewhen dredging in polluted areas where opening agrab could release material into the waterway.

Operator Rene Hoffmans confirms that whencompared to excavator-based backhoe dredgers,the machine is amazingly quiet; a useful featurewhen working closer to shore near residentialareas. This quiet running nature is not limited just tothe exterior because noise levels inside the cab arean incredibly low 20 decibels.

“The only noises I can hear in the cab are thewhirring of the computers and the humming of theheater,” he says.

Another notable feature is the Albatros’ compactnature. With the cab lowered, the package sits quitelow on the deck, allowing it to squeeze under evenquite low bridges and obstructions, while thetailswing is just 7.5m.

Finally, the most obvious difference between theAlbatros and all the other pontoon-based machineswe have featured during recent years is the lack of

boom and stick cylinders. Instead, E stands forequilibrium, and a key feature of the parallelogram-style boom is that it provides a direct mechanicallink between the stick and rear counterweight. Alsoreferred to as a balance crane, there are no steelwinches or cables.

While the boom has a single main lift ram thereare none on the stick. Instead, as the stick is raisedor lowered, the operator is actually changing theposition of a pair of hydraulic rams on the 60-tonnerear ballast block. This counter-balances the boom,stick and grab, with gravity doing much of the heavywork.

There are many benefits, one of which is thebalanced nature helps to minimise tipping whenfully loaded, which the manufacturer reckonsmeans it can be mounted to any type of barge, evenones without spud poles.

Herbosch-Kiere has already put this claim to thetest. After raising the spud poles at the dredging jobin Rotterdam when the fully-loaded 5.5cu.m clamshell was lifted clear of the water it was extended to27m.

“The pontoon tilted by just 20cm,” says Rene.“We need the spud poles to ensure the pontoonremains in position in tidal waters.”

Other benefits include the fact that the low powerrequirement of a maximum of 200kW (300hp) leadsto significant fuel savings when compared to otherfloating diggers, the E-Dredger consuming just 35 lit/hr.

However, perhaps the single most importantbenefit is that conventional cranes often need up tothree-quarters of their available power just to movethe boom, stick and tool. E-Cranes are claimed toreduce this power requirement by half.

It clearly appears to be a win-win situation.However, one disadvantage to the self-propellednature of the vessel is that it needs a captain and acrew of four, whereas most other backhoe dredgerscan get away with the slightly cheaper option of abarge master and two further staff.

Albatros skipper Henk Hakvoort not onlycontrols the pontoon’s movements, but also raisesand lowers the three spuds from the bridge, a jobnormally carried out from the excavator cab.

This leaves the E-Dredger operator free toconcentrate on the job in hand. Rene is providedwith two underwater aids. The first, a simple 5m-long flag pole attached to the tool, provides him witha rough idea that a block is lying at the correct

A special operator for a special machine

For the past 42 years operator Rene Hoffmans has built up a wealth of knowledge behind excavator controls,initially with wheeled Atlas and Poclain machines, followed by longer stints with larger tracked excavators,including a Komatsu PC650 and Hitachi EX800.

For the past 22 years he has worked in the dredging world, with his major claim to fame being eightmonths behind the controls of the Komatsu PC3000 mounted to the pontoon Maricavor at job sites in Denmarkand St Petersburg.

Three years ago, he was approached by Herbosch-Kiere who was seeking an operator for the E-Dredger.They were looking for someone who was not afraid to work long 12- to 13-hour days, and prepared to travel.Rene was keen to accept the challenge.

He soon discovered that the E-Dredger was a completely different animal than what he was used to sittingon. “It is much lighter than the Maricavor and cannot dig with a backhoe bucket,” he says.

However, he quickly warmed to his new role, and now finds the E-Dredger exhilarating.“With a fully loaded bucket, the Maricavor’s boom and stick have to be drawn up close to the front of the

excavator before it can be swung. The E-Dredger has no problems lifting 15 tonnes and swivelling even whenthe boom is fully extended to 27m.

“During 42 years of excavator driving I have to admit that I have never sat on such a fantastic andcomfortable machine.”


“The system slows the speed of movements,but it does work,” says Rene.

The Belgian manufacturer is clearly excited byits latest creation and not just with the fact that it has proved its value in accurately positioningconcrete blocks at depth and reach, but also with itsability to perform a multitude of other tasks. Whenthe pontoon first took to the water in late 2009 itsfirst job was dredging the Port of Rotterdam, andsince then it has often been used for dredgingpurposes, and the Belgian manufacturer is keen topromote its capability of dredging to depths of 19m.

Strictly speaking, the Albatros is not the first E-Crane to go on to a pontoon for underwater digging.A decade ago, a pair of older 1000 series machineswere married to pontoons for a Dutch dredgingspecialist. The first spends all its time in the MiddleEast, and by all accounts has given good service.

Herbosch-Kiere fully expects to get 50 years ofservice from the pontoon. With a few electricalchanges along the way E-Crane says there is noreason why the E-Dredger should not be able toprovide the same length of service. What’s more, ifthe company fails to obtain sufficient dredgingworks, then the customer always has the option toremove the machine from the pontoon and reunite itwith its bottom half.

Above and Below: Using a specially-designed clampmade in Italy by Negrini, the E-Dredger has noproblems whatever shifting 15-tonne HARO blocks.

The hollow structure of the dipper stickis designed to overcome buoyancyissues when working underwater

Left: Operator Rene Hoffmans with the J&B-made 3.5cu.m round-nose grab. Fitted withfour-cylinders, it is designed to work in very hard soils with a pressure of 400kg/sq.cm.

The self-propelled nature is a bigfeature of the E-Dredger, allowingit to travel all over the worldunder its own steam.

Albatross:Layout 1 7/11/11 13:36 Page 4

high-flying albatros

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