The Crane
The crane is a Liebherr 85 EC-B, freestanding tower crane (see image below). The crane is 45 metres tall with a 50 metres counter jib that can rotate 360 degrees enabling access to 1 hectare of rainforest. A suspended basket (gondola) is attached at the hook to carry researchers into the tree crowns.
Researchers can only access the gondola at ground level. Movement of the gondola to a specific position requires rotation of the entire jib in a horizontal plane until the jib is above the position desired. The trolley is then moved along the jib and the hook and gondola are lowered to the desired position.