With hyper-demand for mobile devices increasing daily, the world’s leading manufacturer of microchips has embarked on an estimated $6 billion expansion of their Hillsboro campus. This expansion centers around the D1X research factory which will house the state-of-the-art equipment used in the manufacturing of ever smaller chips in mobile computing. To meet their 2015 production start date, several Portland-area construction contractors turned to Morrow to handle both phases of development.

Hoffman Construction Company worked with Morrow Engineer, Daryl Hicks, to help coordinate placement of their five Liebherr 630 EC-H 20 Litronic cranes. With these five Morrow-supplied cranes, Hoffman was uniquely challenged with application and deployment of their equipment.

“The hardest challenge was finding configurations that would allow all of the cranes to clear the buildings as well as provide adequate crane to crane clearance,” explains Daryl. “Hoffman required a 20 foot minimum vertical clearance between cranes. Application planning took a number of iterations before project requirements were satisfied.”

Howard S. Wright Constructors used a 630 EC-H 20 Litronic along with a 316 EC-H 12 Litronic to complete their area of the site. These cranes, together with an Alimak FC 7100-12D construction hoist, provided an efficient means to deliver materials and personnel. Turner Construction will also employ this strategy of coordinated crane and hoist delivery vectors. Together with a Liebherr 100 LC, used by Ness & Campbell Crane, will make for a concerted effort unprecedented in scale for private industry in the Pacific Northwest.