How to build a crane
 

So there's been a lot of construction around my college recently, and I saw all these cranes. Big ass cranes. I mean, these things are, like, 20 stories tall or something, you know? It's really quite cool how tall these things are close up. And I thought: Gee, I wonder how they build a crane? I mean, what are they going to do? Use another crane? Preposterous, right? I mean, how would they... Well, you get the gist.

So then I saw this.

http://www.mit.edu/~kenlu/pictures/m...ding-crane.jpg

Take particular note of the crane segment still lying on the ground. (Note that the horizontal white thing is just the reflection of a flourescent light. Sorry for the bad positioning; I'm a total amateur.) They really are using an extendable, mobile crane in order to build this (presumably more heavy-duty) stationary crane.

Anyway, there's some wild meta-ness for you. :)

I read a good article on Crane operators in the Atlanta Constitution last summer. The really experienced guys make between $80,000 and $100,000 per year. They start each day taking an elevator about 3/4 of the way up and they have to climb a caged ladder the last 10o feet or so. They spend 8-10 hours up there, eat lunch there and pee in a bottle when they have to go (that's as far as the article cared to go) and come down at the end of the day.

The big projects usually have 2 cranes going and as the building grows one crane will be employed to add sections to the other and vise versa.

The crane operators interviewed said they were routinely struck by lightening and had been in storms with gusts up to 60 miles per hour which would sway the structures pretty hard.

Couldn't pay me enough to do it!

I guess they also didn't mention that all the pullies and sheaves have to be lubed every couple of days, so he has to go for a walk out to the end of the boom with a grease gun! Even "Regular" cranes need this done, and they usually don't bring the boom down on a big crane - you climb.

I have a friend who ran a crane for many years, and owned a crane company

This was a thread with great potential. Too bad the original picture is missing.

Oh, I think I have some pictures of this happening in Baltimore.

So I was with my family, and they didn't want to stand around and watch this all day. Before we went into the aquarium in Baltimore in the morning, this telescoping crane was removing the weights from a tower crane. When we came out hours later, the long boom was down, and they were starting to remove the short boom.

There was also some sort of sleeve that wrapped around the tower and seemed to be able to hydraulically jack segments up somehow. I've heard of cranes that are basically self erecting, and they jack them selves up with these sleeves, and then add segments underneath with their own booms. These guys weren't doing that, so I have no idea what this sleeve does.

Actually, now that I look at the first picture. I think the sleeve wrapping the tower supported the entire crane while the telescoping crane removed segments from the tower. I think the tower crane used to be taller that the new building in the background, and the telescoping crane removed segments until it was low enough to remove the booms from the tower crane. Then it probably took the rest of the tower down.

Quite often, in new construction, those tower cranes are not removed at all. They become the elevator shafts of the completed building.

a la Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann.

You mean Gilligan and Mary Ann?

Pre-school education has obviously gone downhill. :rolleyes:

http://www.amazon.com/Mike-Mulligan-...3760044&sr=8-2

This was the first book I ever checked out of the library. I got it because Captain Kangaroo read it on his show.

When I was little, we were too poor for pre-school ...

...or to belong to the library.

An alternative method:

http://www.sjrwmd.com/streamlines/20..._crane_egg.jpg

Add warming device:
http://www.birddigiscoping.com/blogwoopr.jpg

Cook for alotted time frame and:
http://indianlakeestates.org/Pics/Sa...an-Lake-E_.jpg

Feed on a regular basis:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2232/...84edca.jpg?v=0

In a few years, you have built a Crane!!!!
http://www.photophan.com/images/sand...rane-adult.jpg