Just read something wild about tower crane assembly

I was flipping through an old trade magazine at the yard and saw that the first section of a tower crane mast can take a mobile crane with over 500 tons of lift capacity to put up. I always knew it was a big lift, but seeing that number really put it in view. Found it in a 2018 issue of 'Lift and Move'. Has anyone else come across stats that made you stop and think?

3 comments

3 Comments

miller.jason25d ago

Man, 500 tons just to get it STARTED? That makes my back hurt just reading it. I struggle to lift the first section of my lunchbox sometimes.

xena_rivera6325d ago

That 500 ton number is probably for some huge industrial machine, not a normal thing. It sounds like they're talking about a special case to make a point. Most stuff we deal with doesn't need that kind of force. The comparison to a lunchbox is funny, but it's not a real world problem for people. They just use big numbers to seem impressive.

hill.hugo14d ago

You see that kind of thing everywhere, right? The hidden scale of normal stuff is crazy. It's like how a tiny computer chip needs a billion dollar factory to make it. Makes you wonder what else we use that started with a 500 ton lift. I get what @miller.jason is saying about the lunchbox, but it's all about that first huge push to get the system going. After that first piece, the crane builds itself, which is the real trick.