World’s Biggest Crane Gets to Work at British Nuclear Plant
“Big Carl” has taken three months to assemble and is vital for the construction of the nation’s first nuclear plant since 1995.
The world’s biggest crane, nicknamed Big Carl.
Photographer: Luke MacGregor/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The world’s largest crane is getting ready to hoist more than 700 of the heaviest pieces of the first new nuclear plant being built in Britain in decades.
The machine, affectionately known as “Big Carl” after an executive at Belgian owner Sarens NV, is in place at Electricite de France SA’s 19.6 billion-pound ($24.1 billion) Hinkley Point C project in southwest England. It can carry as much as 5,000 tons, or the same weight as 1,600 cars, in a single lift and arrived on 280 truck loads from Belgium. It has taken about three months to build.