Antonia always makes fun of me when we're on the BBI construction site and I stop to stare at one of the excavators, bulldozers or – as she puts it – “ordinary” lorries. “Typical man! Size is all you care about!” she mocks.

I just can't help myself. Great big pieces of construction equipment are irresistible to me. Okay, okay, you may think that that really could mean anything at all from an ant's perspective, but I do make distinctions. Take the Liebherr 255, for instance. A combined piling and drilling rig – a really fine piece of machinery. Before it came to the BBI construction site, it was also used in Hamburg's Hafencity to drive in timber piles.

Liebherr, that's right – I know, they make some very different things, too, like fridges (which are one thing Antonia does find fascinating). This particular Liebherr has plenty of oomph. By comparison, in fact, the Klitchkos' fists are like tiny fingers tickling the surface. Where the 255 goes to work, not a stalk of grass will grow – unlike the new Capital City Airport, which is taking shape nicely. Eighty tons of operating weight, 816 HP and a maximum line pull capacity of 45 tons.

When I first heard that, it really knocked me out – not literally, of course, luckily for me. But you do have to make sure you've got your feet firmly planted on the ground when you use it!

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