On the campus of Michigan State University, Farm Lane Road is the most important north-south corridor. Its bridge, spanning the Red Cedar River, connects the two sides of the campus and provides access to a legendary landmark, The Rock — a boulder that has been decorated thousands of times since its donation to the university in 1873.
When a 2019 inspection resulted in a downgrade to the Farm Lane Road bridge's weight limits, it was only a matter of time before replacement would be necessary. The bridge carries an estimated 12,000 vehicles and 7,000 pedestrians on a typical class day.
The replacement project began during the 2023 school year, with total closure of the bridge. This spring, Jeffers Crane Service of Toledo, Ohio, a member of the ALL Family of Companies, helped set beams for the new bridge.
Photo courtesy of ALL Crane
Jeffers got the call because it could deliver a 900-ton Liebherr LTM 1750-9.1 all-terrain crane to single-pick the massive bridge beams. Each weighed 64 tons and were 120 ft. long.
What's it like piloting such a large machine through a college campus?
"Our plan was thorough and well executed," said Ben Stachnik, project manager of C.A. Hull, the project's bridge contractor and Jeffers' customer. "MSU's department of police and public safety coordinated with crews to close intersections and lanes so Jeffers could deliver the crane and kept one lane of Farm Lane Road closed for the duration of the lifts."
Where the crane rested was more of a challenge. Because of where the crane needed to sit for the boom length to accommodate the load, outriggers would be resting just behind an abutment wall. This required building the crane pad as evenly as possible with the roadway on which the crane was sitting. Using load charts from the lift, C.A. Hull custom-designed a stack of crane mats to safely raise the elevation of the pad where the outriggers would rest.
The Liebherr LTM 1750 was configured with 164 ft. of main boom and Y-guying for added boom strength. Jeffers built the crane on Monday, pulled onto the crane pads on Tuesday, and was picking by Tuesday afternoon. Work continued into Wednesday, with the Jeffers operator picking and setting one of the beams approximately every 30 to 45 minutes. Beam setting was concluded by noon on Wednesday.
To prevent the need for beams to be flipped in the air, each flatbed delivery was instead maneuvered through campus to properly position each piece for easier pickup and a more direct placement by the crane. Here, again, Stachnik credits the cooperation of campus police.
"We had to turn the beams around in the middle of campus to get them oriented the correct way. MSU's Department of Police and Public Safety worked with our partner, Granger Construction, on logistics to ensure smooth delivery."
Photo courtesy of ALL Crane
