Self-Erector Makes the Grade on Tight Construction Project
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| Enlarge Image Eagle West Tower Cranes provided the crane for this office complex in Canada. |
July 9, 2008 • Providing the right equipment for a project can result in increased construction productivity, as well as lower costs.
Under contract to build a $12 million three-story office complex, Westridge called on Eagle West to provide the right crane for the job. Each floor of the building was to be 20,000 square feet, plus a partial basement of 9,500 square feet. The project was to be a cast in place concrete structure with three staircase shafts and one elevator shaft. The job would not have been highly challenging were it not for how tight the project site was, with no access to the west or south side of the structure, and limited access to the east and north sides.
To say the construction site was tight and operating space at a premium would be a significant understatement, according to Gerry Wiebe, vice president of sales and business development for Eagle West Equipment.
Eagle West supplied a San Marco SMH420 hydraulic self-erecting crane for the job. The crane has an under hook height service elevation of 77 feet and a jib length of 136'9”, providing a total service range of up to 273'6”. The crane has a maximum lifting capacity of 8,820 pounds and can lift 2,205 pounds at its jib tip.
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The San Marco SMH420 hydraulic self-erecting crane increased productivity on the jobsite.
What was more important for the job was that the crane does not require any concrete footings or foundations and has a foot print of just 14' 9” X 14' 9”. The SMH420 can operate inside just 324 square feet of yard space. Another key benefit was that the crane can be set up and operational in just three to four hours from delivery to site.
When the project started, Westridge did not yet have its SMH420 self-erecting crane delivered and was adding floors using telescopic forklifts and manual labor. After the crane arrived and was installed by Eagle West, Westridge began constructing floors in half the time.
Once the crane arrived, crews saved production time as all the columns were then set and poured with the crane while all slabs and shafts were poured with a concrete pump. According to Dave Labbie, the project superintendent, the use of the self-erecting crane was able to increase the on-site service area by at least 50 percent while on-site production increased at a minimum of 45 percent.
“The rod-buster is very happy; all his materials are placed exactly where he wants them, manual labor is significantly reduced with and a big increase in productivity — a double win,” said Labbie. “He [the rod-buster] has told me that he wishes there was a crane like this on every job in town.”
Labbie gave the crane high marks. “This is one of the best values we have ever spent money on; this crane will be paid off in two projects,” he said. Labbie said the San Marco SMH420 brought increased safety to the entire project site. Increased accuracy of material placement, with all materials being placed exactly where the tradesmen want them, meant less exposure to all material handling risks.
Labbie said with the SMH420, Westridge now has a single unloading zone on-site for all incoming materials serviced by the crane; materials are then redistributed with the crane to where the company wants them inside the project. “We have doubled the effective use of our jobsite space and have not needed the off-site staging yard,” he said.
