Saw a tower crane setup in downtown Portland that made me rethink my rigging plan

I was driving through Portland last Tuesday and spotted a crew setting up a Liebherr 200 HC-L on a tight corner lot. They had the jib at a 45 degree angle over the street, not the usual straight out. The signal person was using two radios, one for the operator and one for traffic control. It clicked for me that I've been too rigid with my own lift plans, always keeping the boom square to the load. Seeing them work that angle to avoid a power line changed my mind. How do you guys handle pre-lift checks for setups in tight urban spots?

3 comments

3 Comments

foster.jordan1mo ago

My last lift plan was so square it could've doubled as a geometry test.

troy_price1mo ago

Geometry test? Sounds like your program had more right angles than a Lego set. Did they at least give you a protractor with your workout log? Bet your rest periods were timed with a stopwatch from the science lab. Next they'll have you calculating the hypotenuse between the squat rack and the water fountain.

cameronp471mo ago

My old coach used to make us chart every lift on graph paper like we were in math class. I spent more time drawing lines than actually lifting weights. It got so bad I started dreaming about parabolas instead of personal records. There's a point where tracking stops helping and just gets in the way. I finally had to tell him I needed to just feel the workout instead of plotting it.