Cranes play an indispensable role in modern construction projects, facilitating the precise and efficient lifting and movement of heavy materials and equipment. Whether towering over skyscrapers or nestled within tight urban spaces, cranes provide vital support throughout all phases of construction, from initial site preparation to final touches.
Ensuring a project stays on time, under budget, and safe is an expansive undertaking, whether for construction, civil infrastructure, or other general jobs. General contractors are responsible for managing all these aspects and scheduling the right people to work at the right time.
No matter where you live, numerous building projects are likely happening at any given time, from high-rise buildings to roads and shopping centers throughout suburbs and satellite towns. Cranes are an essential part of that work, so much so that they have become a regular part of our cities' skylines and commutes.
But it isn’t just construction; many jobs require the lifting and moving of heavy products and equipment from agriculture to manufacturing. Cranes have been helping humankind complete difficult and often complex tasks for millennia, and modern cranes have become technological marvels themselves.
With that technological improvement, the need for highly trained and qualified workers has only increased.
The building is starting to take shape, the foundation has been placed, the walls are all framed out, and now it is time to complete the building's skeleton by installing the roof truss. These A-frame supports are often prebuilt in large pieces, which means lifting and maneuvering them up to their final position can be a challenging process.
When it comes to cranes, it is just as essential to have the right people operating the machinery as it is to have the right crane for the job. Cranes remain the most costly and deadly hazards on any construction site, with hundreds of injuries or deaths documented yearly in the United States.
If you are looking at renting a crane, you likely do not have qualified personnel on your crew to operate the machine. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t understand the processes crane operators, riggers, and signalers should be taking to ensure efficient and safe operation.