This Day in History (1997): RHED puts all-terrain crane into service

From the July 23, 1997, edition of The Arabian Sun

The Roads and Heavy Equipment Department (RHED) recently added a new 130-ton all-terrain hydraulic crane to its fleet.

This state-of-the-art crane is equipped with new technology features that increase its versatility and capability in performing critical lifting tasks more safely and productively than conventional cranes.

The crane can be driven on all terrains because of a newly introduced suspension system that gives each wheel independent suspension and support, thereby eliminating conventional crane axles.

The new mobile crane has a maximum lifting capacity of 112 tons (247,000 pounds) at its minimum length and 2.3 tons (5,000 pounds) at a 42 meter (137 foot) radius.

Despite the crane's size, it has a road/highway speed of 70 kilometers per hour (43 miles per hour). The crane is also fitted with an electronic safe loading indicating system to help crane operators work within the maximum permissible limits.

Caption for the top photo: The Roads and Heavy Equipment Department's new 130-ton all-terrain hydraulic crane.

Also on this date

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2010 — The boy band One Direction is formed by X Factor judge Simon Cowell, eventually finishing third in the competition. However, it would go on to become one of the biggest boy bands in the world.

1999 — Eileen Collins becomes the first female space shuttle commander with the launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia

1995 — Comet Hale-Bopp is discovered, becoming visible to the naked eye nearly a year later

1988 — Burma ruler General Ne Win resigns after pro-democracy protests

1982 — Actor Vic Morrow and two children are killed when a helicopter crashes onto them while shooting a scene from "Twilight Zone: The Movie"

1972 — The U.S. launches "Landsat 1," the first Earth-resources satellite

1962 — Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame

1927 — The first station of the Indian Broadcasting Company goes on the air in Bombay

1921 — The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is established at the National Congress

1903 — The Ford Motor Company sells its first car

1900 — Pressed by expanding immigration, Canada closes its borders to paupers and criminals

1829 — William Austin Burt patents the typographer, a precursor to the typewriter

1793 — Prussia re-conquers Mainz from France

811 — Byzantine emperor Nikephoros I sacks the Bulgarian capital of Pliska and captures Khan Krum's treasury