Hydraulic cranes may be common today, but as recently as the 1940s most cranes were still friction operated. Roy Billings, Milwaukee Hydraulics Corp. president, saw an opportunity to improve the portability, safety and difficulty of operating cranes by using hydraulics, and by 1946, Milwaukee Hydraulics had developed America’s first hydraulic crane. The first crane produced… Read more »
Have you ever seen an enormous skyscraper constructed from the ground up? Have you ever wondered how contractors build such tall, massive buildings? The fact is tall buildings require even taller cranes, often called tower cranes. These behemoths must be installed in sections in a process that takes several days – sometimes weeks – to… Read more »
After the tragic crane collapse that occurred in New York City on February 5, Mayor Bill de Blasio put strict regulations in place, forcing crawler crane operations to stop any time winds are forecast to exceed 20 miles per hour or gusts reach 30 miles per hour. Under this mandate, cranes are to be secured… Read more »
Being a crane operator can be a tough job, especially when working in less than ideal conditions. Safely controlling a crane doesn’t just mean you have to pay attention to what’s taking place on the ground, but also what’s going on around you in terms of weather. Sudden gusts of high winds or increasingly stormy… Read more »
For construction companies, perhaps the top asset after your employees is the equipment you use. If you own or lease cranes to do your work, you must strongly consider an investment in crane mats for use on your job sites. So what exactly is a crane mat? It’s a thick, durable hardwood floor that your… Read more »
When it comes to cranes, there are a few different types available for use depending on the job that needs to be completed and the weight of the objects that must be lifted. Different types of cranes have different capabilities, and the requirements of your project will decide the crane you should use. Here are… Read more »
Liverpool, England is perhaps best known the world over as the birthplace of The Beatles, the rock group that achieved worldwide fame and success with numerous hit songs. But Liverpool is also quite well known as an industrial port city. The Port of Liverpool is one of the best-equipped and connected deep water container terminals… Read more »
Astro Crane knows that working with high-rise structures is risky and dangerous. In order to get a load from the ground to the working floor requires a strong pulley system and a precision-oriented crane operator with knowledge and experience to handle all the variables that come with the intense job. Tower cranes are used to… Read more »
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has the best interests of operators of cranes and derricks in mind with its rulemaking requiring crane operators on construction sites to meet one of four qualification/certification options by Nov. 10, 2017. On August 9, 2010, OSHA published the final rule for cranes and derricks in construction. OSHA developed… Read more »
How do construction cranes work? Thanks to pulleys and cables, cranes are able to lift heavy machinery and construction materials easily. There’s something known as “mechanical advantage.” If humans tried lifting several tons of materials using just their arms and legs, it would be very hard (if not impossible) to do so. Cranes, however, utilize… Read more »