We have all seen cranes doing work.  Sometimes when you are watching a crane, you might be thinking that things really look easy, but the reality of the project is that behind the scenes would paint a completely different story.  This is how things worked out when the city of Vancouver proposed a project that required moving, rigging and lifting things to the 8th and 9th floors of the public library.

The two floors that were demolished used to be used for government offices and were going to be turned into more library space, meeting rooms and a popular urban green space for the public to enjoy.  The challenge came when the project team realized that the building only had 2 service elevators that were not going to get the job done.  A crane was needed to move everything from the 8th and 9th floors and then help reconstruct them according to the plans.  With the tight spaces in the downtown area, the project quickly took a different turn.

According to the original article, the project leaders thought they could get the job done with a smaller, mobile crane with a 600-ton capacity.  It was quickly realized that was not going to work without overall project costs going higher because they would need to shutdown a street in order to have space for the crane of this size.  It was determined that a tower crane was the best option.

The contractor needed a crane for at least 6 months of the 1 year long project and that is why they contacted a rental company.  A 26.5-ton class Terex lifting jib tower crane that required SEVEN 22.6 segments to reach the height needed to get the job done efficiently.

The lifting and rigging of the project was going to be the main focus.  Because the company was using the jib, the tower crane was able to be placed closer to the library structure and according to the article, was still a challenge being at the tip radius of the crane.  When the jib was not in use, it was set to a 65-degree radius to keep it from hitting any of the structures around it.

As you can see by this story, the marriage between rigging and lifting is a very important thing.  You need to know what you are lifting, where it is going and how you are going to get it there.  In the scale model crane world, some of these numbers are not quite as important, but in the real world, every pound, inch makes a difference.