How do cranes get on top of buildings?

Cranes are one of the most common construction machinery boasting cables and pulleys that facilitate constructors in lifting and moving and other building elements from one place to the other.

One incredible sight to catch is these enormous cranes on monumental buildings. Which begs that question, how did the crane get there in the first place? Often people imagine solutions like a helicopter or another crane lifting it onto the building.

However, that’s far from the truth. In reality, cranes reach the top of the building in various ways. Here we discuss in detail the three different ways get cranes on top of huge buildings:

The External Method

It is one of the most common and best ways to hoist cranes on tall buildings since here workers can resume construction work without having to halt the process.

Here workers will add struts to help raise the crane’s anchor base to ensure that the crane can easily reach the last couple of floors. That way, cranes help minimize the construction, as well as the downtime.

The Internal Method

Another way cranes reach the building’s top is by the internal climbing method, where the crane builds a couple of floors from the inside and then reaches a higher spot.

Here the crane stands tall in the center of the building. The place where it rests looks like a makeshift courtyard where it fabricates the rest of the skyscraper around itself. The crane’s base boasts a hydraulic cylinder that elevates the crane from one floor to the other. After that, workers will slide new steel beams to ensure a sturdy, well-built footing underneath the crane.

The Skycrane Method

Finally, a crane may reach its destination via the sky crane method, where a helicopter lifts the crane into the air and places it where necessary.

If the renovation work at hand boasts only a small crane, transporting the machinery with a helicopter is a much easier way of achieving your goal. However, this is done piece by piece with a crane segment weighing between 3,000 to 20,000 pounds.

Thus, larger projects deem this technique costly and ineffective. As a result of this, builders rarely employ the sky crane method.

The Bottom Line

Cranes are available in an extensive range, and each features different ways of hoisting itself on top of big buildings. Typically, cranes boast the external method to reach the top of a building safely.

Crane engineers and architects may consider the shape, size, and crane hoisting method to ensure adequate safety. It is essential considering the dangerous nature of construction work.