Terex Cranes used the launch event of its 650-tonne capacity Superlift 3800 lattice boom crawler crane in Zweibrücken, Germany recently to show off apprentices Thomas Maske and Hans-Peter Lutz, who shone at the 2012 German Welding Championship.
Maske won first place with 1,568 out of 1,600 possible points, followed closely by his fellow team member Lutz with 1,560 points. The event took place from September 16-18, 2012 in Saarbrücken and was organized by the German Association of Welding and Related Processes.
The pair, who were introduced to the media at the unveiling of the Superlift, have qualified to compete in international tournaments. Maske will represent Terex at Worldskills 2013 in Leipzig as the German champion. Maske, in 2011, also won first place in TIG welding at a national competition held by DVS in Hamburg. Lutz will be at the Weldcup 2013 in Essen as the German runner-up.
The two future steel construction mechanics, who are currently going through their fourth year as apprentices at Terex Cranes in Zweibrücken, had to complete a challenging task during the competition, welding a structural steel pressure vessel with a maximum allowable operating pressure of 60 bars in less than eight hours. On the second day, competitors had to weld two additional samples of their work, one using aluminum and the other using a nickel-chromium alloy. They also had to demonstrate that they mastered four required welding methods: metal active gas welding (MAG), stick welding, self-shielded flux-cored arc welding, and tungsten inert gas welding (TIG). At the end, a jury made up of six experts checked the welds on the inside and outside while taking into account whether the pressure vessel was tight.
"The fact that our apprentices have once again displayed an outstanding level of performance at this type of competition shows that we train our young talent to be the best, and this is reflected in our cranes," said Francois Truffier, general manager at the Zweibrücken facility. "Welding is an essential part of the production. High quality here means reliability and safety for the cranes. We are very happy to see that our investment in such talent will contribute to deliver results to our customers."
Lift & Access is part of the Catalyst Communications Network publication family.
