MANITOWOC (NBC 26) — A massive crane known as P-82 has left Manitowoc and is beginning a three-to-four-month journey to Pearl Harbor, where it will service aircraft carriers and submarines at a naval base.
Residents gathered to watch the 228-foot-tall crane depart, many arriving before sunrise to catch a glimpse of the moment.
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"It's not very often you get to see a big 200-foot crane leave Manitowoc, Wisconsin," Connor Siemers, a Sheboygan resident, said.
Mark and Kathy Driedric were among those who showed up early to watch.
"I got up at 5:30. I got up early for this," Driedric said.
When asked about the favorite part of the experience, Driedric said it was "seeing the tugs and how they shift the crane around and move it."
P-82 was built at Konecranes in Manitowoc. The crane is made up of more than 80,000 parts, stands 228 feet tall, and can lift up to 175 tons. Konecranes says every detail has to be exact, down to the number of paint coats and the torque on each bolt.
"On average, it takes about a year to build," Steven Waisanen, Konecranes Nuclear Equipment and Services president, said.
P-82 is one of seven Navy cranes contracted through a $330 million project.
"I like the fact people are truly interested in what we are building here. The people that are putting the crane together are from here. You can't get more local than that," Waisanen said.
The crane's journey to Pearl Harbor will take three to four months and pass through the Panama Canal. Konecranes says P-82 will not be the last crane to leave Manitowoc, as the company has more contracts in the works.
"Manitowoc, it's a heck of a place," Siemers said.
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