Unusual crane job for Bovier

On the hook: the meteorites weighed in at 600 and 1,600 kilogrammes. (Photo: Liebherr)

Argentinian Grúas Bovier used its Liebherr LTM 1060/2 all terrain crane to lift two meteorites from the Antonio Serrano natural history museum in Entre Rios, near Buenos Aires. The cargo was then prepared for transport.

The two space rocks weighed over two tonnes in total – with one weighing 1,600 kilogrammes and the other 600 kilogrammes.

To lift them, the 60 tonne capacity, 4 axle crane was set up with 12 tonnes of ballast and the crane boom was extended to a length of 29 metres.

The lift required pre planning. As the cultural and historical heritage of the province of Entre Rios, the museum is a listed building. The building, including the floors and inner courtyard, could not be modified for the operation,

“Our LTM 1060/2 hoisted the fragments from the inner courtyard over the roofs without them having to pass through the various rooms of the museum,” said Grúas Bovier’s Justo Bovier.

The work, including safety measures and road closures, took two hours.

“To be honest, it would never have occurred to us that we would one day be asked to hoist two rocks from outer space,” added Bovier. “After we had completed the job with our crane, they were taken to the place where they were originally discovered in the northern Argentinian province of Chaco, 1,000 kilometres from our city.”

Grúas Bovier was specially commissioned by the Chaco provincial government authorities.

Criminal history

The back story of the meteorites is just as exciting as the actual job, said a spokesperson for the project. Around 4,000 years ago, the rocks fell to earth and landed in “Campo del Cielo”, in the province of Chaco, and caught the attention of scientists and tourists. They also attracted the interest of smugglers who stole the two meteorites to sell on the black market. The smugglers travelled over 1000 kilometres with the rocks, but they never made it out of the country.

In 2007, the meteorites were discovered during a traffic control by the Gendarmería Nacional Argentina in the Ceibas area of the province Entre Ríos, who then placed them in the care of the museum. Now the two space rocks are finally being returned to the place where they were originally found.

Argentinian crane contractor using its LTM 1060/2 to lift the two meteorites out of the museum. (Photo: Liebherr)

After the space rocks had been moved out of the building into the inner courtyard, the LTM 1060/2 lifted them over the roof of the museum. (Photo: Liebherr)

Left to right, Justo Bovier, Tadeo Bovier Snr. and Tadeo Bovier Jnr. (Photo: Liebherr)