Tag Archives: tower cranes

Wide-ranging cranes are available for construction works

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Construction cranes are valuable and essential properties for the construction industry. Cranes have some vital jobs on construction sites, especially when tall buildings, bridges, skyscrapers, etc. are constructed. Nowadays different types of constructions are done in odd places like in the middle of a river, or in a busy traffic area, where works can be smooth-sailing with the help of construction cranes.

Utility of construction cranes

Before cranes, construction industry worked differently as everything required human labor. Lifting, loading, unloading and shifting were done by laborers. It required lots of time and labor. The process was expensive too. The construction industry in many places needed to restrict their imagination and design due to lack of labor or expertise. These problems are readily solved ever since construction cranes were invented. It saves much time, labor and money of contractors or owners of buildings. Modern day construction cranes possess a huge capacity and a great many utilities.

Types of construction cranes

Various types of cranes are used depending on the requirements of the work and site location. Here are the mostly used construction cranes:

  • Tower cranes – These cranes are required in building skyscrapers, bridges, and tall buildings. Tower cranes are normally fixed on the construction site with a strong base as long as construction works proceeds. They rise hundreds of feet above and can also reach out hundreds of feet horizontally. Tower cranespossess18-20 tons lifting capacity.
  • Truck-mounted cranes – As the name suggests, these cranes are mounted on a vehicle and easily movable from one location to another. These cranes have two parts: the carrier where the crane is fixed which is also called lower, and the lifting component called upper. A truck-mounted crane possesses 13-14.5 tons capacity.
  • Rough terrain cranes – It is a specialized form of thetruck-mounted crane where the tiers of the carrier are specially built for moving on an uneven surface. Outriggers are used in these cranes so that the system remains firm while loading and unloading. These cranes generally possess 35-80 tons lifting capacity.
  • Crawler Cranes – A crawler crane is almost like rough terrain crane but it possesses crawlers or tracks for movement. The crawlers provide sufficient stability to this cranes, hence, they don’t come with outriggers. Crawler cranes possess high lifting capacity which starts from 40 tons.
  • Railroad cranes – As the name suggest, these cranes are mobile but only on the railway tracks. They possess flanged when suitable for movement on the track. The lifting capacity of these cranes generally varies from 15-250 tons.
  • Aerial cranes – These are the most modern addition to this product line. Aerial cranes are actually helicopters that carry loads to a great height or in an odd site like is a mountain site or in the middle of a river.

Besides, telescopic cranes, floating cranes, level luffing cranes, etc. are also used in different construction sites. Again, contractors may require more than one types of cranes to work simultaneously. Cranes make any construction work rather easy and inexpensive than manual or semi-manual works. However, proper training for operation and safety is required while working with the cranes.

How are tower cranes put together

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Construction sector is all about heavy equipment and working with technology. You always need to make use of technology to put things straight and get your work done. In case of building high rise, it is quite a challenge for the companies and the challenges come in many ways and many forms. Setting up a tower crane is one such challenge that construction companies experience when they are dealing with tall rises. It also becomes a challenge when they do not have efficient men doing the job or people who do not know how to do it the right way. Let us first understand the utility of a tower crane and why it is so important to have them in a construction site. When you are dealing with tall buildings, it is not possible to carry stuffs like steel, concrete, tool and other building materials to that height by any human. You therefore need the work to be done using a tower crane which has the ability to pick those heavy items right up where it is needed.

Now let us understand what a tower crane is made of. The bottom of the crane is attached to a large concrete pad which is used to give adequate support to the crane. The bottom is then connected to the mast. The mast is the stuff that gives the appropriate height to the crane. Now on the top of the mast, you will find the slewing unit attached to it which helps the crane to rotate. There are many other things attached to the slewing unit such as a boom, the machinery arm and the counterweights. You have a long horizontal jib (projecting arm of a crane) on the top of the slewing unit. This part of the crane carries the load and maneuvers with the help of a trolley that runs along the jib.

We also have a shorter horizontal arm which is used to contain heavy items like large concrete counterweights. The winch motor that plays an instrumental role in lifting the weight lies in the machinery arm. Now we move to something important. In order to erect a tower crane, the crew needs to first assemble a 40-foot mast that contains a slewing gear and 2 vertical mast sections. Once that is done the next thing that needs to be assembled is the jib and the machinery section. The horizontal members and then placed on the assembled mast sections with the help of a mobile crane. Once that is done the counterweights are added. For the crane to grow, it must be done one mast section at a time. A top climber is used by the crew that fits easily between the top of the mast and the slewing unit.

In order to balance the counterweight, the crew has to hang a weight on the jib. Once that is done, the slewing unit is detached from the top of the mast. This results in the hydraulic ramming the top climber and pushes the slewing unit by 20 feet. This gap of 20 foot is then occupied by a 20-foot mast. This is how the height of the crane increases.

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