To build the stadium that hosted the opening match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Al Anis Trading used a GMK6300L to perform challenging lifts over a long radius on tenuous ground. We look back at the challenges of bringing this sporting landmark to life.
Photo credit: Waseem Ali, J R Montejo, عـادل بن احمـد
Manitowoc has a long history of helping create some of the world’s most iconic structures — whether it’s a miles-long bridge in China, a sports stadium in Brazil, or a ski resort in Austria. Companies leading these spectacular projects often face rigorous construction timelines and have to balance budgets of hundreds of millions of dollars. There’s no room for surprises. So, naturally, contractors seek cranes that have a reputation for reliability with an equally dependable level of service support.
To host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar tasked itself with building a series of eight massive stadiums to accommodate the 64 matches of the tournament. The Al Bayt Stadium, the second largest of these stadiums and the site of the opening match, relied on a capable Grove GMK6300L all-terrain crane for some of the trickiest lifts in the stadium’s construction, led by Doha-based Al Anis Trading.
Grove mobile cranes excelled in Qatar on the World Cup project because they are designed to handle the toughest jobsite conditions and have impressive lift capacities. Performance, productivity, and comfortable environments allowed operators to work effectively for longer days with less fatigue, according to Al Anis’ dealer Mannai Trading.
Contractor Al Anis Trading’s GMK6300L was tasked with five crucial lifts in the stadium’s construction, all of which relied on the crane’s maneuverability and high capacities at long boom lengths. The lifts were configured on a concrete slab, which meant that there were severe limits on the amount of pressure each outrigger could exert into the ground. Nevertheless, the GMK6300L successfully lifted loads of 1.5 t and 2 t with long boom configurations moving over a 54 m radius.
The first four lifts, of 1.5 t, required a 45 t counterweight and a 70 m boom length with a 21 m swingaway boom extension. Lifting 1.5 t was nowhere near the crane’s maximum capacity but because of the extremely unwieldy angle, the crane was needed because it would not exert too much ground pressure on the concrete. The final lift, weighing 2 t, required a 54 t counterweight and an even longer main boom length of 74 m. The 21 m swingaway boom extension and 54 m radius remained the same for this lift, it also had to be conducted on the concrete slab. In the end, thanks to the quality and reliability of the crane, plus the operator expertise and planning from the Al Anis team, all the loads reached their destination without issue.
The finished Al Bayt Stadium hosted nine of the 2022 World Cup’s matches, with audiences over 65,000 for eight of those matches, and every seat sold out for two matches. The thrilling quarter-final match between England and France and the semi-final match between France and Morocco both took place at the Al Bayt stadium.