Canton, Georgia’s Water Pollution Control Plant, is in the middle of the largest capital improvement project in the city’s history—a $70 million expansion designed to boost wastewater treatment capacity by 50%. To install the new sludge treatment equipment at the heart of that work, general contractor Reeves Young brought in ALL Crane Rental of Georgia and its 190-ton Liebherr LTM 1160-5.1 all-terrain crane.
190-ton crane deployed for Canton wastewater plant expansion
ALL Crane Rental of Georgia — a member of the ALL Family of Companies — supplied a Liebherr LTM 1160-5.1 all-terrain crane for the heavy lift portion of the work. Sales manager T.J. Sokolowski says his team spec’d the 190-ton machine to pick and set a range of new sludge treatment components: a sludge dryer, hopper, and module, along with pump manifolds and a belt filter press.
The heaviest single piece was the sludge hopper at 32,000 pounds. Serious load — but well within the crane’s rated capacity, which is exactly why the LTM 1160-5.1 got the call.
Expanding capacity drives the $70 million project
Canton’s Water Pollution Control Plant expansion isn’t a routine infrastructure upgrade. It’s the largest capital improvement project the city has ever taken on.
When complete, the expanded facility will handle six million gallons of wastewater per day — a 50% jump over current capacity. That growth isn’t arbitrary. Canton’s seeing a real uptick in construction across residential, commercial, and industrial sectors, and more development puts direct pressure on existing infrastructure. The new sludge treatment equipment sits at the core of that expanded capability; without it, the plant simply can’t process the additional volume the community will generate. That makes the crane lifts a critical milestone, not just a logistical hurdle.
Crane configuration and site access enabled efficient lifts
For this job, the LTM 1160-5.1 was configured with 108 feet of main boom, set at a 64-foot radius, and rigged with 102,500 pounds of counterweight. That setup gave the crew consistent, predictable performance across every pick.
One real advantage: the crane could set up directly beside the newly poured concrete foundation. “We had the luxury of setting up right next to the concrete foundation that had recently been poured,” Sokolowski said. “We were able to use full outriggers on the crane as well. “That’s not always an option in plant environments, where space is tight and obstacles are everywhere. Interestingly, getting the crane into position proved easier than getting the delivery trucks there — the plant’s narrow internal roads gave the flatbeds far more trouble than they gave the LTM 1160-5.1.
A lot of that agility comes down to the crane’s steering system. The LTM 1160-5.1 offers five selectable steering programs, including crab steering, where all axles turn in the same direction and the machine moves diagonally. “This is an amazing feat when navigating narrow or congested plant construction sites,” Sokolowski noted. In tight quarters, that kind of maneuverability isn’t a nice-to-have — it’s a practical necessity.
Worth noting: the Liebherr VarioBase independent outrigger system, which lets each outrigger be positioned separately, wasn’t needed here. Sokolowski flagged it anyway as a key tool for more constrained environments where full outrigger deployment simply isn’t an option.
Strategic scheduling compressed lift work to just over one week
Crane time costs money, and Reeves Young’s scheduling reflected that clearly. Rather than letting equipment trickle onto the site over an extended stretch, the general contractor coordinated deliveries so new components arrived in rapid succession.
All picks, sets, and leveling assistance were wrapped up in just over a week. “It’s a shorter duration for this type of work,” Sokolowski said. That compressed timeline kept crane downtime low and kept the broader project moving. Final alignments and grouting were completed after the crane was disassembled and removed—sequencing that let the lift work close out cleanly, without holding expensive equipment on-site for tasks that didn’t require it.
Key points from the Canton wastewater lift project
A few things stand out here. New construction — even at a complex industrial facility — can actually simplify crane work. The fresh concrete foundation gave the crew room to set up close to the work zone and deploy full outriggers, an option that established plants often can’t offer.
The LTM 1160-5.1’s all-terrain capabilities mattered well beyond raw lifting capacity. Its multi-axle design and crab steering made it more maneuverable on the plant’s narrow roads than the delivery trucks hauling the very equipment it was there to lift. That’s a detail easy to overlook when evaluating crane selection, but it shaped how the whole operation ran on the ground.
Scheduling discipline paid off, too. By coordinating deliveries tightly, Reeves Young kept the crane productive and the timeline short. The $70 million expansion is on track to deliver a 50% capacity boost to a city that clearly needs it—and the heavy-lift work that made it possible is already done.
Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.
