How are tower cranes attached to buildings?

[dallasbrink]

still didn't answer my question.

I need visual examples or im not going to get it.

[antinimby]

How does the crane operator get up into the cab to operate the crane each day?

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by antinimby

How does the crane operator get up into the cab to operate the crane each day?

The tower crane shaft has a ladder that winds up the center of it. If you look closely at the photos posted above, you can see them. When a crane is standing alone on a construction site, the crane operator climbs the ladder to the operator's cab. Once the building starts to climb and the crane with it, the crane operator can use the construction elevator instead, which is attached to the side of the building much like the crane is. Then the operator can just climb into the tower crane shaft to the last few feet to the cab.

[cbotnyse]

Originally Posted by dallasbrink

still didn't answer my question.

I need visual examples or im not going to get it.

I agree those pictures do not illustrate how a tower crane is lowered from a supertall.

[MayDay]

I'll try to simplify this:



Crane A is assembled and jacked up (through a variety of ways) to the height required to build the tower structure.

Once Crane A is no longer needed, the construction crew uses Crane A to hoist Crane B to the roof, where it's secured. Crane B is used to dismantle Crane A and lower the pieces/parts to the ground.

Once Crane B has dismantled Crane A, Crane B either hoists Crane C to the roof *OR* Crane C's parts are placed in an elevator (The model that's Crane C can usually be broken down into parts that small) and sent up to the roof, where it is then used to dismantle Crane B. Once Crane C is no longer needed, it's dismantled and the pieces/parts are sent down via the elevator.

This photo, although it's on the ground is a good example of a Crane B being used to assemble/dismantle (either or) a Crane A. I really can't think of how I could make this any easier to understand, folks:

[dallasbrink]

ooooo, that makes since.

[Amanita]

Check my dismanting picture sequence in the other thread somebody posted the link to. That's one way to get a Tower crane down.
I myself was not 100% sure how they rigged up the external supports for crane towers pictured here. Due to the relative lack of very tall buildings here, it's not something I've seen up close. I did have one fellow PM me asking, because he was worried about moving into a condo with damage to the ceiling left by the crane tiebacks.
I assured him that he won't have anything to worry about- whatever the securing method used, no developer or builder in their right mind is going to hand off a damaged unit to a buyer, with "crane marks" left all over the walls, floor, or ceiling. Can you imagine how many pissed off tenants there would be? Oww.

Since somebody's asked how operators get up into the crane, I'm surprised nobody's asked about bathroom breaks yet
Well, here's the short, sweet, and blunt of it. You want a bathroom break? You climb back down the tower. However, if the operators get really busy or don't want to bother with the time it would take, I've heard of them using bottles or buckets, at least for #1. One operator I heard of even got creative, employing a funnel attached to a very long hose, which emptied into a container down on the ground.

And this is most assuredly NOT reccomended for numerous reasons, both sanitation-wise, and to avoid a serious beatdown from one's co-workers, but my crane instructor told me about an idiot operator who just whizzed out his cab window whenever. Look out below!
Usually men can find ways around most of the bathroom dilemma, for obvious reasons. I'm still not sure what women do, as there are still so few of them.

[KevinFromTexas]

For anyone wondering how cranes are raised, that red structure around the shaft of the crane is the jack. If you look closely you can see one of the hydraulic pistons that raises it. That structure can move up and down the shaft. When they want to raise the crane, this jack crawls up the shaft to the top of the crane. It lifts up the top of the crane, including the boom (part that swings around). The jack also includes a tray that slides out. New sections of shaft are hoisted onto the tray by using the crane's hook. The new section is bolted into place and the jack raises up another level. They keep doing that until they get the height they need.

Photo credit goes to Wattleigh

[Amanita]

http://www.sitbonzo.com/crane/
check this out, it's truly horrifying. It's what happens when a climbing operation like this goes horribly wrong. Apparently they forgot to bolt the upperworks of the crane in place, and when they trolleyed that tower segment in, its balance was upset and over it all went.
Truly awful to look at.