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Just random musings as I watch one of those massive cranes (used in the construction of high-rise buildings) out of my office window. Is it one of the most boring and isolated jobs in the world? Or is it actually quite liberating and gives the operator lots of headspace for themselves? I assume there is loads of downtime as they never seem to be constantly operating so does the operator just climb up, do their 8 hour shift or whatever, twiddle a few levers and sit listening to music and reading whilst admiring expansive views?
As well as their lunch, they usually take a couple of empty bottles up with them!
Being sat in a small box all day must be terrible for cardiovascular health....
Just do a few reps up the ladder between lifts?
A very good mate is a big crane operator on an exploration ship - similar heights involved but he's dropping stuff very deep so uses video feeds to see where the load is. Shifts are 12 hours long and one month on one month off.
Seems like he's always very busy - time is money and the ship operates 24/7
I think he's getting bored of it after 10 or so years. The money is good but being stuck out in the North Sea is rarely enjoyable (the do work worldwide though so it's not always grey, wet and cold).
Headspace for themselves? You're concentrating on your job or you kill someone. Downtime? All the big sites I deliver to, the crane has a long list of people waiting for their time slot.
I've been up a tower crane, **** that for a job 😁
Expect trundling around in one of these has a bit more variety and you get to piss in a real bog.
I don't think it will be a 8hr shift more likely 12hr but the money is good. It seem that the only person I know who who has done it was ex military. I think some leaving the military link up with firms or retraining
A guy I work with used to do this for a living, great money but very boring when he wasn't actually moving stuff - which seemed to be a lot of the time. Used to take his iPad up with him and watch stuff on Netflix etc. Only gave it up because of the time away from home, the crane company would just send him off to Sizewell from the North East mon to fri, he prefers to earn less but see his Mrs more.
We had a few opposite us for a few years, the operators did 8 till 5 ish IIRC, watched them climb up and down every day from the kitchen window.
watched them climb up and down every day from the kitchen window.
That's weird as I was just about to write that I have never seen anyone ever climbing up or down, looked out of my window and there he was climbing down LOL!
All the ones I've worked with lately have been driven on the ground with radio control.
I bet it's a very uplifting job.
I bet it’s a very uplifting job.
...but like any role in life, I guess you have to take the ups with the downs 🤔
Logistically, all the cranes I have had on site are booked fully, there are weekly/monthly/6 monthly safety checked that must bver carried out - otherwise always working
I used to work with a man that worked on them. Repairs and checks as opposed to operating one. Speaking of interesting jobs, it was my brother in law’s wedding at the weekend. Got chatting to one of the guests and she works for ILM. Mainly on Star Wars stuff.
The tower crane operator is often blind to the actual lifting/landing site so is in near constant radio chat with a spotter on the ground. They must have balls of steel, because if they mess up then there could be fatalities. The tower crane drivers I've seen onsite in the past have not been healthiest looking of people.
When we had one of them huge mobile cranes onsite in the past, it was a whole team that came along with it. Including a truck with the counter weights and an accommodation truck.
Amazing pieces of engineering.
What's the heaviest weight they can lift?
but like any role in life, I guess you have to take the ups with the downs
If you’re getting bored, you could always make a sideways move.
What’s the heaviest weight they can lift?
On the ship my mates crane has a SWL of 400T and a max of 600T - which I think is incredible!
What’s the heaviest weight they can lift?
The Liebherr LTM 1850 pictured above is 700 tonne (but that drops quite quickly the further away from the crane you go).
The tower cranes that the OP is talking about won't be anywhere near that though.
What’s the heaviest weight they can lift?
This one can do 6000t. Not clear at what reach?
https://www.craneandhoistcanada.com/mammoet-launches-new-super-heavy-lift-crane/
We had a few opposite us for a few years, the operators did 8 till 5 ish IIRC, watched them climb up and down every day from the kitchen window.
Weird. Most other people use doors. 🤔
Just random musings as I watch one of those massive cranes
You should see the cranes they use to build the massive cranes 😳
I did a fair chunk of workin birmingham past gfew years and have wondered much the same.
I suspect if falls into a funny category of boring but not a situation where you can get bored? along with train driver and airline pilot.
90% of the time twiddling your thumbs. and the 5% of the time youre working, you need to be absolutley on the ball so you dont kill someone.
Dont know if i could handle it.
Are we about to create a whole new topic for Top Trumps with this thread? 'We' as in the people who are posting stuff to add value to this topic...clearly not me.
They've had some of the biggest cranes in the country at Dawlish this year building a rock fall protection tunnel, railway bridge & seawall - making use of the railstrikes to ensure no train movements.
I used to work a lot with some fairy large, usually mobile cranes, when erecting steel chimneys during my steeplejack years. Working with a good driver was always a pleasure and I think they used to get quite a lot of satisfaction when a job went well. I can image there is a reasonable amount of pressure knowing that you're trying to land 50t - 60t of chimney section a few inches from people who are balancing on a small scaffolding 100's of feet up.
Nevermind the height, it's the movement of the cab that would freak me. Have you seen how much a tall tower crane can deflect either with a load or in the wind!
When we had one of them huge mobile cranes onsite in the past, it was a whole team that came along with it.
I heard you can't start off as a driver, you have to train as one of the ground crew. But once you get your foot on the ladder, there's no limit how high you can go...
As someone who works at height I used to look into office blocks at the IT types and wonder how dull a job it looked. Sitting around in the same small cubicle wiggling a mouse around. Always glad I was on the ropes with the banter of my team😜
Just a job innit. You get used to what you do.
I used to look into office blocks at the IT types and wonder how dull a job it looked.
It is as dull as it looks. BRB, writing a shitty email to Maureen in Accounts Payable.
I like this one - building a spaceport
You can clearly see Big Carl from rides on the Quantock ridge.
On a recent CITB course I met a couple of lads who erected these things, both early 30’s, both f*cked and desperate to get out. Also both had witnessed a fatal collapse. Hugely stressful job mentally and physically.
Just a job innit. You get used to what you do.
Agree with this and I also think that by and large there is not really any such thing as an "easy" job (I'm sure there are some exceptions). Every job seems to have at least some element about it that is difficult and seems to me to be more about what temperament is required of the individual rather than a scale of easy>>>>hard.
On a recent CITB course I met a couple of lads who erected these things, both early 30’s, both f*cked and desperate to get out. Also both had witnessed a fatal collapse. Hugely stressful job mentally and physically.
IME it's a very strictly controlled industry.
I don't think there has been a crane collapse in over ten years in the UK.
I don’t think there has been a crane collapse in over ten years in the UK.
Our use of the word 'collapse' may be different but accidents are way more common than that - this was last week!
https://vertikal.net/en/news/story/42298/crane-overturn
Anyway - topic is interesting to me as I've just passed my 'Appointed Person' course - so rather than driving/operating, I can be the person in charge of the whole operation, planning, speccing, Risk Assessment etc. I dont actually work in Construction industry but we do get Contract Lifts in so wanted to upskill our in house knowledge.
Sat on the course with a few people who actually are drivers, using big kit like those Liebherrs shown above. All wanted out of the operating, and into the planning, managing, supervising etc. Sounds like a lot of waiting around, a lot of dealing with site B.S. (One lad said he turned up for a days work as Slinger/Signaller, all his Quals and Cards to hand, and was turned away by the Foreman for being too young and offered a days labouring instead. Was told to FRO by all accounts), some long days and shifts, driving, then all the rigging, setup, mat placement, setting up of the crane computer etc.
Anyway, very interesting course, lots to it, and as per the poster above a big lift is not just about the operator/driver, but a whole team, often with a significant amount of works going in before the crane ever gets to site.
Oh and as we are discussing WAH, lifting, construction etc, the site I linked to above is superb and I often quote it in training - see their 'Death Wish' series here if you want a chuckle and/or cringe!
https://vertikal.net/en/news/tag/33/death-wish
After not seeing anyone going up or down the crane in months then seeing someone on Tuesday, here's what I saw this morning. It made me feel queasy watching him...
I don’t think there has been a crane collapse in over ten years in the UK.
There was one in London 2020 killing an 85 year old woman.
My depot is next to McAlpines where they store their cranes. When they operate them there, they always seem to be controlled from the ground.
Back in the day when I worked on a construction site we had the tower crane stolen !
The crane had been off hired.
The men came a week early than planned to take it down. Not an easy task.
And needed a fair but of kit as well!
All the safety paperwork intact etc etc.
The owners of the crane came a week later and wondered where it was!
It was a big crane as well in London.
I was surprised to learn that the driver operators of the massive mobile cranes don't have tachos in the cab. Because they're so slow they need to set off at 4am and the drivers get incredibly tired when they're operating them. Easy to fall asleep on the job as the operator sits in a tilted back seat.
It's incredibly dangerous, but it is a few quid cheaper than hiring two people. 🫠
@snotrag That etc. covers appearing in court too, with packed bag (previously I was a peripatetic H&S consultant).
I can confirm that some of the operators are indeed quite large! (Goodness knows how with all the ups and downs to get to 'the office').
<p style="text-align: left;">Big Carl at Hinkley Point C is configured for 5600t. When I took this photo I counted about 30 tower cranes on site.</p>
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I don’t think there has been a crane collapse in over ten years in the UK.
Not tower cranes, but I have personal experience of three uncontrolled boom collapses in the past three or so years and know of more (all in the public domain).
I operated offshore cranes a long time ago. Quite the experience when you are pitching and rolling and the deck you are landing/lifting loads on is too!
"When I took this photo I counted about 30 tower cranes on site."
I took this 4 years ago from the Quantocks
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Samsung heavy Industries...
2 x 4000T Gemini lift of a ships stern section:
