PASMA focus

As lockdown eases and people return to work, the No Falls Foundation is urging workers to ‘Be Safe, Don’t Fall, Stay Alive!’ The charity is keen to ensure height safety remains a priority despite pressures to kick start the economy.

Power Towers On The Move

UK-based Power towers has been an autonomous part of JLG since the company acquired it from Brian and Sandra King and Mark richardson in 2015. Almost exactly five years on, we had a ‘virtual meeting’ with current managing director Jonnie Dawson, 18 months after he moved into the role and six months after the departure of founder Brian King.

The Changing Face Of Lower Level Work At Height

Working at heights of up to five metres is by far and away the biggest cause of life changing injuries and fatalities resulting from falls at height. it is also a major cause of minor strains and muscle pulls, as tradesmen move or climb ladders and steps. And yet not only are low level work platforms safer, but they are also more efficient and therefore cost effective! We take a look at the market and some of the latest new products.

Picking up?

The Pick & Carry Market Is One That Has Been Growing In Recent Years After Decades Of Decline As Palletised Loads And Fork Trucks Took Over From Industrial Material Handling.

XCMG XCA1200

The XCMG XCA1200 is a 1,200 tonne capacity, eight axle All Terrain crane aimed particularly at wind turbine erection applications. This model is made by Yagao in 1:50 scale.

Book review

Cranes & Access publisher Leigh Sparrow reviews a short publication from the Hire Exchange entitled:

From Rags to Ritchie

From selling £2,000 of used furniture at its first auction back in 1958 to selling more than $5 billion of used equipment last year, Ritchie Bros has grown into the world’s largest auctioneer of used heavy equipment.

ACE high

With more than 10,500 units produced each year, India is without a doubt the biggest market for pick & carry cranes. Ed Darwin spoke with Sorab Agarwal, executive director of Action Construction Equipment (ACE) to find out how the company went from producing its first pick & carry crane under a tarpaulin tent to become the market leader just eight years later, and how it has maintained its position ever since.

Meet The President

Skyjack appointed Ken McDougall as president last September. With more than six months under his belt he spoke with Mark Darwin at Conexpo in mid March.

Moving In The Same Direction

Last month the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) published a new standard for the design of aerial work platform controls - ISO 21455:2020 Mobile Elevating Work Platforms Operator’s Controls. C&A chatted with Chris Wraith of Access Safety Management (ASM) who has been involved with the issues and events leading up to the new standard for more than 15 years while working with Nationwide Platforms, IPAF, and - more recently through ASM - Australia’s EWPA. We also spoke with manufacturers and rental companies to gauge reactions to its introduction and the effect it will have on platform controls going forward.

New Tower crane Safety Alert

Given the unprecedented situation with the coronavirus outbreak, the CPA Tower Crane Interest Group has issued advice relating to how tower cranes should be left out of service for lengthy periods of time. The new safety alert states that failure to take the crane out of service in line with manufacturer’s instructions and failure to periodically inspect it whilst out of service could result in the crane being subject to very high wind loadings and consequential collapse of the jib or whole crane.

Tower crane growth continues

The tower crane market has been one of the more dynamic crane sectors over the past year or two, following a dire period during and after the last recession. A flood of new high rise construction in major cities around the world played a role in the change of course, but the market might also have been helped along by more American contractors using tower cranes on projects where they would have previously used crawler cranes.

Jaso J560 tower crane

The Jaso J560 is a flat top tower crane with a maximum capacity of 24 tonnes and a jib length of up to 85 metres. This model - in 1/87 scale and made by Ros of Italy - comes in a very long box with the model substantially assembled.

Helping prevent fraud

The number of rental companies and contractors reporting cases of fraud leading to non-payment or the loss of equipment is on the increase and likely to get worse as the industry moves to more online transactions and less face to face contact. UK-based credit agency Top Service provides some interesting perspectives and sound advice

Gin Poles - the original crane

Eddie Bishop has been building traditional timber buildings in the UK for more than 30 years and while he uses cranes and a wide variety of modern access equipment he regularly resorts to more traditional lifting equipment. The following is his take on a form of lifting equipment that is rarely seen these days Gin Poles.

Blowing in the wind

Could an improved understanding of the aerodynamics involving high winds help reduce tower crane failures in hurricane-force gales?

Still Pushing The Envelope

It may have taken many years, but the aluminium boomed crane now appears to be making its mark as a useful tool among the mobile crane community in a good number of markets. The coming of age is almost certainly related to its main advantage of offering substantial cost savings compared to an All Terrain crane when carrying out certain types of lifts.

Still growing in popularity…

The telehandler is now a hugely popular and essential material handling machine for the construction and agricultural industries in many parts of the world with sales having grown to around 70,000 units a year. We take a look at some of the history surrounding the ‘telescopic handler/variable reach forklift’ and check out some of the latest developments and products on the market.

Van mounts on the rise

We are constantly being reminded about the damage we are all doing to the planet and how we should be reducing our carbon footprint by changing to cleaner, renewable energy. The move towards electric power in the work at height sector is gaining substantial momentum with almost every manufacturer now either offering or looking to add a hybrid/electric option to their model range. This is particularly true for van mounted platforms - where simple hybrids are becoming increasingly popular - particularly as most of them work in the urban environment.

Seismic shift

The shift in people’s attitude over the past year towards reducing their carbon footprint through the use of renewable energy and battery power has been astonishing. TV programmes such as Sir David Attenborough’s The Blue Planet has forcefully identified the problems the world faces and together with Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg and the global movement of extinction rebellion, not to mention the wildfires in Australia, have all helped strengthen the environmental argument resulting in increased Government action around the world.

The big American show

This year’s it’s the USA’s turn to host the big international construction equipment exhibition, Conexpo 2020, which opens in Las Vegas on Tuesday March 10th and runs through to Saturday 14th March. The event looks as though it will be a particularly good one for cranes but a little weaker for aerial work platforms. With Bauma taking place less than 12 months earlier, don’t expect too many radical new product launches - many are just north American launches of Bauma prototypes. That does not mean to say there are none. Most companies have something new to show and we may well get some last minute surprises.

Demag AC 700-9

This 1:50 scale model of the nine axle Demag AC 700-9 is made by IMC Models of the Netherlands and is the Collector’s edition. it comes in high quality packaging and includes a very nice book describing the real crane with a good many photographs. The build manual for the model is very comprehensive and tools are included in the box.

Genie Global Product Launch

Last month Genie unveiled several new scissor lifts along with new ‘High Float’ and TraX booms and user accessories at its facility in Redmond, Washington as well as providing some insight into its future plans. Mark Darwin was there.

That Sinking Feeling!

Using some form of material or method to spread the weight of heavy objects, to stop them sinking into soft ground dates back to the earliest of times. The principal is all too obvious and yet hardly a week goes by that we do not receive reports of cranes and work platforms overturning due to being set up on soft or unsuitable ground without some method of spreading and supporting the load.

Manitowoc on the move

Manitowoc has started to merge parts of its Grove mobile and Potain tower crane businesses in europe, following similar moves in the Americas and Asia-Pacific regions. While the two crane lines will remain independent in terms of operations and product management, they both now share a new leader in Orlando Mota - senior vice president europe & Africa - responsible for sales, marketing and support in europe and some African countries. Other senior appointments include global product managers christophe Simoncelli for tower cranes, Giorgio Angelino for All Terrain cranes and Jean-noel Gros for finance and administration. c&A editor Mark Darwin spoke with Orlando Mota about his plans.

Continuing to evolve

The All Terrain market continues to evolve with manufacturers introducing a raft of new models with innovative features and developments, including the increasing use of new technology including telematics. There has also been the merger of two of the four big manufacturers which will have a significant impact on the market dynamics. We take a look at the major changes over the past 12 months and the developing trends.

Onwards and upwards

The truck mounted platform market has seen more than its fair share of development over the past few years, both in terms of new technology, but also the adoption of new materials, such as ultra-high strength steels as the manufacturers have been forced to make regular updates and redesigns as environmental and other regulatory demands have changed the chassis on which they are based.