Our Site Manager takes you through the Crane Erection process at One Mabel Park in Jolimont
PROJECT: ONE MABEL PARK, JOLIMONT.
DEVELOPER: IRIS RESIDENTIAL
The tower crane is one of the first major pieces of plant that goes up on the site. It allows us to do most of the heavy lifting. Typically, on a job, it starts with the structure, which requires heavy duty lifts. Using a tower crane on site is generally the easiest way to do it. The site here is quite constricted with the space, so having mobiles on site would be quite hard, so having a tower crane at this stage of the job is probably the easiest way to go about it.
There’s quite a few steps that go into planning a tower crane erection. Firstly, there’s the type of crane that you need, so that goes through items like the major sort of lifts that you have for the job. The weights, the sizes, the pickup locations, that all goes into determining the size and type of crane that you need. Then there’s obviously the design, the engineering that goes in with the tower crane; (there’s also) the set out of the location, figuring out the best spot to place the tower crane. Generally, you want to put it in a spot that doesn’t interfere with the main structure and lets you complete the job and then dismantle it quite easily at the end of the job.
So, what we have here is a small hammerhead. This type of hammerhead allows us to remote control the crane from the ground floor, as well as having a driver up in the cab. The benefits of a hammerhead are greater reach and a bit a more lifting capacity, which we need with the street being so close to the job site. We’ve got a small road at the front here, quite a tight spot at the front for the mobile crane to set up.
So, what we had to do was put a full road closure in place, set the crane up on the street, and divert traffic around this residential area. General site considerations for safety that we need to take in place is obviously exclusion zones, making sure the area is secure at the bottom, bunted off. We’ve had no other trades working today due to the fact that the installation process takes up the whole site.
One of the first stages of the crane erection is getting the crane footing in place. That involves excavation. This one here, were sitting on a compacted layer of sand, and there is a big crane block poured in the ground with the feet cast in. That forms our footing for this one. The first piece of equipment that goes down is the generator. We place the generator in a spot that isn’t going to impede the main structure of the job or the crane erection process.
Followed by the installation of the mast sections. The different coloured mast sections represent a reinforced section and an unreinforced section. We install the mast up to the slew ring. From the slew ring we install the cab, the machine deck, the jib and then the counterweights.
Today our crane erection process has gone quite smoothly, we started at 7am due to noise restrictions on site. Our contractor here, FG’s (FG Cranes) have led a smooth operation. The road was set up quickly, deliveries onto site have been smooth, and the guys have done a very quick and efficient job.