5 Types of Cranes Commonly Used in Construction
With new people and businesses moving here, cranes seem to be permanent fixtures in some cities' skylines. Contractors and equipment providers are often booked months and years in advance.
Cranes are an essential part of building high-rises and large construction projects. They can be used to move heavy equipment and materials to some of the highest constructions in the world. Every project has different lifting requirements, and there are just as many types of cranes to meet those demands.
Here is an overview of the five types of cranes you may need for your construction project:
1. Tower Cranes
Commonly used in the construction of tall buildings and structures where materials need to be lifted to great heights, tower cranes are known for their unparalleled ability to lift heavy loads to the highest heights.
These cranes are unique in that they typically require the use of an additional crane, usually a mobile crane, to set them up. Then, once the initial phase of crane construction is complete, a climbing frame is added to the base of the tower and raised to add new mast sections. This process allows the crane to grow with the construction. Every type of crane is unique, but even tower cranes stand out.
A tower crane is a tall, vertical tower fixed to the ground with a horizontal jib, or boom, extending from the top. A weight on the opposite side of the jib acts as a counterbalance, helping maintain stability. Imagine the tall, slender crane structures you see working on skyscrapers in major cities; that’s a tower crane.
There are a couple of different tower crane types, including:
- Hammerhead Tower Cranes: These cranes include a horizontal jib that rotates 360 degrees around the mainmast. It is one of the most popular types of cranes in an urban area, especially when headroom is limited.
- Luffing Tower Cranes: These cranes serve similar purposes as hammerhead cranes. They have a jib that can be raised and lowered through a method called luffing. These cranes are capable of lifting heavier objects than hammerhead cranes.
- Self-erecting Tower Cranes: These units are lighter and more transportable than hammerhead and luffing cranes but have a lower load capacity. They fold and unfold, so they can be erected and dismantled onsite. They are perfect for situations in which cranes need to be moved around on a construction site or between sites.
2. Mobile Cranes
Static cranes are typically used in situations where the unit will not need to move between sites. Mobile cranes are smaller than static cranes and mounted on some kind of truck or track. These are some of the most common cranes used for everything from road construction to building projects.
Mobile cranes are often the most versatile, as they can be used on a wide variety of job sites and can traverse challenging terrain. If a job requires a crane to maneuver between different locations on site regularly, mobile cranes give the flexibility to do so without having to tear down and rebuild set-in-place cranes.
Many mobile cranes are hydraulic. They operate on the principles of fluid mechanics, using hydraulic systems to generate and transmit force to perform lifting and other tasks.
Hydraulic systems are capable of efficiently producing an incredible amount of mechanical force in compact spaces. Compact power generation allows smaller and more mobile cranes to lift substantial loads, a quality that lends itself well to all manner of construction projects.
There are four common types of mobile cranes:
- Crawler Cranes: Mounted on treads like a tank, these have lattice jibs much like static cranes and can lift upwards of 2,500 tons. The treads allow them to move over soft marshy ground better than other mobile crane types.
- Rough Terrain Cranes: In regions that have challenging terrain or frequent weather-related impacts, RT cranes have a telescoping boom mounted on four oversized tires. It can pick up about 165 tons.
- Truck Cranes: Truck-mounted cranes, also known as TMCs, have booms mounted to a large truck bed; these units are especially mobile and can lift up to 45 tons.
- All-Terrain Cranes: These are similar to truck cranes and rough terrain cranes but typically have more tires that are capable of handling extremely challenging terrain. You can find all-terrain cranes with load capacities as high as 1,200 tons.
- Carry Deck Cranes: Capable of lifting up to approximately ten tons, carry deck cranes have a telescopic boom that mounts to a deck. The deck rests on four large tires.
Overall, mobile hydraulic cranes offer the construction industry a combination of power, precision, mobility, and versatility, making them indispensable for lifting and material-handling tasks in a construction setting.
3. Personnel Platforms
Personnel platforms go by a couple of different names, including man baskets or suspended platforms. Whatever you call them, these specialized lifts are often essential on more extensive construction or demolition job sites. They allow for the safe transport of personnel to high work locations when ladders and scaffolds aren’t up to the task.
There are two broad categories of personnel platforms: boom attached and suspended.
The personnel platform most commonly used is likely boom-attached. The platform or man basket is connected directly to the boom or lift arm for these lifting devices.
For most individuals, the truck-mounted variety is the most frequently seen type of this aerial device. Think of the “bucket truck” you see employed during work on power lines. Trucks also come in a wider variety of sizes and configurations and include telescopic, articulating, and scissor lifts.
The second broad category of lifted personnel platforms is the suspended variety. Just like it sounds, this involves the man basket or similar personnel platform hanging from the tip of an existing crane. Suspended personnel platforms lend themselves to use in the construction of large buildings and telecommunication projects like cell tower maintenance and removal.
4. Overhead Cranes
Overhead cranes, also commonly referred to as bridge cranes, are pretty standard in industrial environments that frequently require moving heavy loads between set points indoors or outdoors.
They function similarly to gantry cranes, except that the rails they move on are not located at the base, moving the entire crane structure, but rather the rails are generally incorporated into a building structure overhead of any workers. Hence the name.
While you won’t see overhead cranes on construction sites themselves, they can be an essential component for many construction companies that can use them off-site to pre-build or assemble structures in a controlled environment for later delivery and installation on-site with a mobile boom crane. Pre-building in this way, even for custom projects, can help keep on schedule and on budget.
And since we are all about cranes, we thought giving a quick overview of these specialized cranes might be helpful.
5. Derricks
Derricks live in a space somewhere between a traditional tower and an overhead crane. A construction derrick typically consists of a mast (the vertical structure) and a boom (an angled arm), along with cables, pulleys, and winches to manage the lifting process.
The mast provides the necessary height to reach various levels of a building, while the boom only extends to maneuver materials horizontally. This is in contrast to a traditional crane design, where the boom is the main lift support structure. And unlike overhead cranes, derricks are generally temporary structures that can be installed and moved as needed.
In the construction industry, derricks play a vital role as powerful lifting devices used for moving and positioning heavy materials vertically. Their versatility and strength make them particularly useful on large-scale construction projects, such as high-rise buildings, bridges, and other significant infrastructure developments.
Determining The Right Crane For Your Project
As obvious as it may seem, the heavier and more significant the size of materials that you need to move, the larger the crane you will need, and the higher the costs will be. Determining the type of crane that is best for your job can seem like a difficult decision.
Having detailed information regarding your project is critical to getting the machine you need. Getting the right crane at the price you require will make your project go much smoother and eliminate delays from incorrect equipment.
The first step in understanding crane loads and determining what machine you need on site is to accurately determine exactly what you need to lift, how heavy it is, and where you need to lift it from and to. Load calculations should take into account the weight of everything being lifted, including all lifting gear, hooks, rigging, and construction materials.
It is not just the nature of the project but the terrain that could make a difference. The Carolinas feature everything from rugged mountains to sandhills, thick red clay, to rolling hills. You will need a mobile crane that can handle whatever the Carolinas can throw at it. The more you know about your terrain, the better you will be able to communicate your needs to a crane rental company.
The type of crane you need will depend on a number of factors:
- Terrain: In the Carolinas, our terrain varies significantly from thick clay to muddy topsoil to granite and bedrock. The type and condition of the land where your project is located will be a factor in the kind of crane you need to rent.
- Location: Are you moving objects within a wide-open construction site, or are you navigating narrow streets in a small town? The neighborhood in which your crane will be operating will be a factor in the type of crane you rent.
- Project: Are you working on a tall, high-rise, or road construction? The answer will help determine what type of crane you need to rent.
The Right Crane And Crane Rental Company For Your Construction Project
Parker Crane’s team is proud to provide the highest quality cranes and machinery builders need to construct new apartments, offices, educational institutions, retail, and industrial buildings throughout the Carolinas.
The best tools for operating a crane safely are experience, communication, and proper training. With over 40 years of moving and using cranes, Parker’s Crane Service has the expertise you need for safe, reliable crane operations, no matter the job site or weather
We pride ourselves on safety and our Zero Accident Philosophy and conduct many detailed safety measures when performing a job to ensure that no project carries unnecessary risk. We perform the following for every single job we take:
- Pre-Lift Job Assessments
- Daily Risk Assessments
- On-Site Hazard Analysis
- Routine Management Audits
With a fleet of well-maintained hydraulic truck cranes, we offer not only the best equipment but can also help with site installation, maintenance, and operation. Our crew is OSHA and MSHA-compliant to ensure your site and crew safety.
Parker's Crane provides quality crane rental, rigging, and heavy hauling services throughout the Carolinas and the East Coast. Contact us if you would like to discuss your needs and whether or not our services and equipment will work for your construction project. We provide free on-site quotes and evaluations.