Video GalleryNMT supplied their 700 ton Terex to install a 26 metre footbridge over the railway at Cambridge North new railway station.rnPlease go to our VIDEO GALLERY to see more.
NMT recently supplied a Terex 700 ton crane complete with 55m main boom and 96m of luffing jib for the World Base Jumping championships on Blackpools seafront.rnThe event entered its second year and previously had used our Terex 250 ton crane, but the organisers wanted more!! rnrnrnrn/Users/tim/Desktop/AirgameZ 2016 v4 (1).mp4
At NMT Crane Hire, we recently covered just what CPA Crane Hire is, detailing what you can expect your crane hire company to provide for you and what it is your responsibility to organise for your site. In this article, we’ll discuss what you can expect from CPA Contract Lift hire, which differs greatly on what aspects are your responsibility, and what is the responsibility of your crane hire company.
In essence, a CPA Contract Lift means that the majority of the elements related to a lift, including insurance, are covered by the crane hire company. You just need to provide the necessary details for the lift.
‘CPA’ stands for Construction Plant Hire Association and all crane hire companies must adhere to the guidelines. That means that when you organise a CPA Contract Lift hire, you can be confident that all of the correct guidelines are being met, as outlined below.
When you organise a CPA Contract Lift, you are guaranteed that your crane hire company will cover the following elements:
– Plan the lift and operate the lift in accordance with a safe system of work
– Provide an Appointed Person who is both qualified and competent, with extensive knowledge of the lifting operation
– In addition to the Appointed Person, the crane hire company will provide a qualified Slinger/Signaller, a qualified Crane Supervisor, and a qualified Crane Operator. Each of these persons must be not just qualified but also fully competent and knowledgeable
– Supply a crane that is fully certified, and is regularly tested and maintained, and is of the necessary type and capacity for the lift
– Provide Method Statements
– Provide Risk Assessments
– Ensure that the work is carried out in accordance with BS 7121 (code of practice for safe use of cranes) and LOLER 1998 (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998)
Your crane hire company will also provide insurance cover for the project, which includes insurance for the loss of or damage to the plant or other property damaged by the plant. The insurance will also include a maximum liability of £20,000 for the goods being lifted and £2,000,000 for loss or damage to property or persons.
With a CPA Contract Lift, it is your responsibility to provide your crane hire company with all of the relevant information in regards to the items to be lifted; this information must be entirely accurate. You must also inform them of the site and ground conditions so that your crane hire company can plan the lift accordingly.
If you have a lift that your require crane hire for and are unsure of which options is best for you, whether it be CPA Crane Hire or CPA Contract Lift, you can speak to the team at NMT Crane Hire and we’ll be able to provide you with detailed guidance. Please fill out an online enquiry form or give us a call today on 0800 026 6985.
NMT Crane Hire have recently talked about just what is included in CPA Crane Hire vs what’s included in CPA Contract Lift. Both options are commonly chosen, having their own benefits depending on what you’re looking for. Therefore, deciding which one is right for you can be a little tricky, but is vitally important. Although we have covered what each one means in our previous posts, a brief overview is:
– If you choose CPA Crane Hire, you will be provided with both a crane and a crane operator
– With CPA Crane Hire, you will not receive a Crane Supervisor, Slinger/Signaller, or an Appointed Person
– You are responsible for ensuring the crane is suitable, that the work is carried out to LOLER 1998 and BS 7121 standards, and for checking the credentials of the crane hire company and crane
– You are responsible for planning and executing the lift
– With a CPA Contract Lift, you are essentially hiring not just a crane but a company to organise the entire lift
– All you are responsible for providing is the necessary information for the lift to be planned, such as the items that need to be lifted, the site conditions, the ground conditions, etc. This information must be accurate
CPA Contract Lift is commonly chosen by people that do not have an existing infrastructure in place for a whole lift to be carried out. It is more expensive than CPA Crane Hire, but will not incur the same costs that hiring your own team for one lift would do, which is the extra you would have to pay for CPA Crane Hire.
CPA Crane Hire is the cheaper option, and is ideal for people who do have a full infrastructure in place for carrying out a lift, but simply need some extra cranes to be able to complete the job.
If you have experience and staff who are knowledgeable about everything required to carry out a lift, and you are simply in need of extra crane/s, CPA Crane Hire is right for you. If, however, you do not have this in place in your company and do not have the working knowledge to properly carry out a full lift, CPA Contract Lift is the best option.
To discuss your lift and the requirements that you need, don’t hesitate to give NMT Crane Hire a call on 0800 026 6985. We provide both CPA Crane Hire and CPA Contract Lift options, so you can choose the correct hire for your needs.
If you have marvelled at a tower crane and asked yourself “how do those things work?” don’t worry, you are not on your own. A feat of engineering, tower cranes have been at the forefront of construction and innovation for centuries, yet knowledge of their mechanics and their functionalities are still reserved for experts and practitioners. To shed light on this industry, NMT Crane Hire study the science behind tower cranes.
One of the most important aspects in ensuring a crane strays upright is making sure a suitable foundation has been laid. Like any building or skyscraper, a foundation needs to be sewn in order to secure the structure and to prevent any mishaps. Typically, a foundation for a tower crane will be secured with cement (again, like a building or skyscraper) and in certain cases, steel beams will be used for added security to the structure. The usual formatting of a crane’s foundation will consist of the base of the crane being attached to a concrete pad via large anchor bolts. Following on from this step, the pad will be connected to the steel beams, which are reinforced with concrete pillars. This foundation gives the crane a wider base platform, and as it is secured with concrete, this significantly reduces the chances of any tower crane toppling, even in extreme conditions. Modern-day cranes and their foundations are built to withstand winds of up to 145mph, meaning they should comfortably deal with category 4 hurricanes and storms.
Another vital component of a tower cranes structure is the counterbalance. Evidently, tower cranes are not built to just stand up and look pretty; they are responsible for manoeuvring large materials at great heights. When operating heavy materials at height, one of the main concerns is the risk of toppling, and that is why tower cranes are usually fitted with a counterweight. However, the equation for working out how much weight is needed for a specific load is far more sophisticated than one would think. Here is the equation in full to help you determine the appropriate counterbalance weight for your crane:
Step 1: Determine the amount of weight being applied to one end of your crane
Step 2: Measure the distance between the weight and the pivot point
Step 3: Multiply the amount of weight by the distance between the two points
Step 4: Measure the distance of the opposite side of the level (the space which is available for the counterbalance.)
Step 4: Divide the total applied torque (the force which causes the rotation) by the distance of the counterbalance weight.
As mentioned in the equation above, the amount of counterbalance required depends on the weight of the materials. As cranes are required to lift high and to lift big, just how heavy can they haul? The maximum unsupported height for a crane is around 265 feet, but this height can increase if the crane is attached to the side of a building. With that in mind, the typical tower crane offers a lifting power of around 19.8 metric tonnes. As previously explained, this amount of weight changes depending on the height of the crane, the conditions in which the crane is lifting and a number of other variables, and with a number of safety concerns, it is important to air on the side of caution when deciding how you load your tower crane.
NMT Crane Hire are experts in the field of crane hire, so if you wish to find out more about all of our services, contact us today on 0800 026 6985 or leave us a message via our online contact form.
Operating a crane is a job which requires nerves of steel and an eye for precision at the best of times, yet when this profession is combined with adverse weather conditions, the job requires a whole other level of expertise. As we head into the colder months, NMT Crane Hire explains how to operate a crane when the weather takes a turn for the worst?
Strong Winds
Unsurprisingly, the most pressing issue presented to crane operators is strong winds. Being such tall and slender obstacles, strong winds pose an imminent threat to the stability of a crane. Despite being equipped with counterweights of varying sizes to cope with different conditions, cranes are typically restricted to lifting in conditions in excess of 20 mph. The typical industry practice will see most lifts postponed if winds creep up to and around the 15 mph mark to err on the side of caution.
Due to the stature and structure of a crane, there is no definitive answer as to how to operate a crane is windy conditions. The general rule of thumb will be to wait until the wind settles as health and safety is the priority of any lift.
Thunder and Lighting
When storms are brewing, there are a number of other problems which must be considered by crane operators. Although there are no official guidelines which offer guidance for operating in thunder and lighting, it is generally advised to abandon any lifting once thunder is detected at least 10 miles away. If the last sighting of thunder has been detected 10 miles away, the very next strike could be in your location, no matter if it is raining or not. As cranes are large metal structures, they are more likely to be struck by lightning as they are conductors of electricity, which is why abandoning the crane once thunder and lightning have been detected is advised. Do not return back to the cockpit of the crane until 30 minutes has passed since the last thunder strike. Again, it is better to be safe than sorry.
For more information on how to operate a crane or other industry-relevant topics, head over to our news page. If you wish to learn more about our services, contact NMT Crane Hire on 0800 026 6985 or leave us a message via our online contact form.
To help construct and sculpt buildings and all shapes and sizes, a crane’s design has to be sophisticated enough to be able to adapt to the needs and requirements of any project. Having been developed over centuries, the crane’s design has reached a stage where no project is too big, but what are the components of a crane’s design which enable contractors and builders to build bigger and bigger? NMT crane Hire outline all the features and components which make these machines a mainstay on every construction site.
Arguably the most practical element of a crane’s design, a jib is the arm of the crane which is responsible for lifting and manoeuvring the materials around the site. Although there are many different variations of jibs, including luffing jibs and fixed jibs, the main premise of this component is to hold and suspend the materials attached to the cranes…
Although this feature may not compare to the other components in terms of size, hooks are undisputably just as important. Used to connect the materials to the crane, hooks are suspended from a hoist rope and can be connected to various points of the crane, depending on the size and weights of the materials.
Especially in the case of tower cranes, one of the main downfalls of a crane’s design is the potential for the structure to capsize. Cases of these tragedies are extremely rare, however, largely due to the role of weights on a crane. Placed at the rear end of the crane, these weights are designed to counter the weight of the materials being lifted, and an extensive level of care is taken to determine the appropriate amount of weight needed for the crane.
The control centre of a crane, the cabin is the area of the crane which houses the operator, as well as the controls, anemometer, scales and other essential features. Typically located above the sewing unit of a crane, the cabin is one of the most important elements to a crane, purely for providing an office for operators to carry out their work.
Our knowledge of cranes and their design features stems from over 30 years of industry practice with these machines. If you wish to enquire about over services, contact NMT Crane Hire today on 0800 026 6985 or message us via our online contact form.
Although they may be a staple part of our everyday landscapes, there is often more than meets the eye when it comes to cranes. In our latest blog post, NMT Crane Hire unearth some of the most interesting crane facts and shed light on what makes these machines so efficient and so fascinating.
There is a reason why your google search for ‘cranes’ may throw up images of a long-necked bird, and that is because these machines were inspired by this slender creature. As one of the tallest man-made tools, it is clear to see how these machines drew inspiration from the tallest flying bird in the world.
Continuing with the theme of nature, a crane’s articulating jib has been designed to copy the natural movement of a human finger. To help manoeuver materials in tight spaces and to allow for a wider range of movement, the crank in the crane’s neck, formally known as a jib, was designed around the shape of a human’s finger to help the machines hook products and hoist them at a more acute angle.
Before the 19th century and the invention of the steam engine, humans and animals, such as horses, would be used to generate power for the crane to be able to function. Nowadays, however, with the inventions of internal combustion engines, humans can sit comfortably within the cabin and operate it from there with much more ease.
As mentioned in our earlier blog entitled ‘The History of the Crane,’ the earliest models of these machines were created and designed by ancient Greeks. Used to help construct buildings and monuments, as well as to shift large quantities of materials, the Greeks put the wheels in motion for what has become one of the most frequently used machines in construction.
Unlike any other piece of machinery, cranes can literally build themselves. Workers secure each unit of the crane as it is lifted up piece by piece, and once the control panel has been installed, the crane uses its own functions to help attach the various other components that make up the whole structure.
We hope you have enjoyed this list of the 5 most interesting crane facts. To find out more about our crane hire services, contact NMT Crane Hire today by calling us on 0800 026 6985.
NMT CRANE HIRE recently travelled around the country to different football stadiums as part of the pop singer PINK’s Carnival Tour.nShe was suspended in a specially designed box (that will upset the IPAF) by one of our Spierings mobile tower cranes.nThe six axle machine picked her up from the rear of the stage and slewed over centre stage, where she dropped from a decender wire to the awaiting audience.nnPink using NMT Cranes
Construction cranes are a feat of engineering, so it is no surprise to learn that operating these machines is an intricate and complex science. To understand how these machines are handled and manoeuvred on a daily basis, NMT Crane Hire outlines the routine practices of a crane operator.
Before anyone goes climbing up to the operating cabin, the first job is to set up and assemble the crane. Crane operators are responsible for driving trucks and materials to worksites and aiding the assembly process. This process consists of blocks and outriggers to prevent capsizing, bolting the boom sections together to extend or modify the boom for pile driving or high lifting, depending on the job.
Once the crane has been assembled, the next step is for the crane operator to carry out routine safety checks. These checks consist of checking for any signs of visible damage or wear and tear to the wire ropes, hooks and every other part. The responsibility of assessing the conditions also falls to the crane operator. Due to the nature of the machines and their structure, operators must err on the side of caution and only use the crane if the conditions are suitable. Take a look at our previous blog to find out How to Operate a Crane in Bad Weather.
Finally, after the crane has been assembled and all the checks have been carried out, it is time to get to work. With a typical shift lasting between 8-12 hours, a crane operators lift of tasks consists of lowering materials into place, lifting and manoeuvring them by demand of the site manager, and aiding the general construction of every project.
To find out more about this line of work, contact NMT Crane Hire today by calling us on 0800 026 6985 or by leaving us a message. You can also browse all of crane operator vacancies here.
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