Industrial Cranes

Industrial Cranes

Industrial cranes are machinery that use levers and pulleys to operate a long truss, or arm, that lifts, lowers, carries and relocates what cannot be moved by smaller machinery or human power. They are found within the construction, engineering, manufacturing and transportation industries, and may either be mobile or fixed. Cranes are powered by internal combustion, hydraulics or electric batteries. There are several different varieties of cranes, all of which are tailored and dependent on their specific use. Each have varying load capacities, sizes, lifting heights and span, and are mounted on automated vehicles or metal structures. Their area of work could be indoor, road, rough terrain, railroad, aerial or in water. While working, all industrial cranes must remain stable when lifting heavy loads. To prevent tipping, they are either built with counterweights to offset the weight of the lifting load, or are equipped with outriggers, which are metal arms that stabilize the crane.

Many different kinds of cranes are used today. Mobile cranes include truck mounted cranes, that are able to travel on highways, rough terrain cranes, which are able to maneuver on soft or uneven ground, railroad cranes, which have wheels capable of moving on train tracks, floating cranes, which are attached to boats and float in water, and aerial cranes, which are helicopters equipped with cranes that are used in hard-to-reach areas and disaster situations. Fixed cranes are not able to move, but can carry heavier loads than mobile cranes and are much more stable. Smaller workstation cranes like monorail, jib and stacker cranes are used in indoor facilities and perform repetitive material and good transportation in loading docks and manufacturing facilities. They are free-standing, wall-mounted or ceiling-mounted. Larger outdoor cranes are mostly used in the construction of buildings and large structures like bridges or highway systems, and large lifting applications like bulk-handling. Bridge, gantry and hoist cranes are larger fixed cranes.