Terex tower cranes in waterfront complex construction

Built on less than two acres, the complex will feature three buildings consisting of luxury condos, hotel, shops and restaurants. Permanent residents will dwell in the landmark 22-storey structure and the adjacent second-storey building, while the development’s 8.5-storey final structure will include a four-star hotel, restaurants and retail outlets.

Throughout the project, a variety of cranes will be employed to erect the buildings. However, a majority of the day-to-day lifting will be left to two cranes towering over the worksite for approximately two years. 

On the Bridgewater project site, tower cranes fill the critical link between the ground and the multistory structures. They lift a wide variety of the construction materials, ranging from tools, concrete form work and rebar to structural steel, equipment and concrete. Careful planning for the number, type, height, jib length and capacity of the cranes must be considered, so the entire project site is covered where needed.

Cropac Equipment Company and C&C Crane Services were appointed to supply the tower crane equipment.

“We had just under two acres to cover, and we had to lift a variety of materials, including precast steel reinforced with core slab,” mentions Kevin Carey, owner of C&C Crane Services. “The heaviest planned lift was 20,000lb at a 164ft radius.”

In addition to what was lifted, the crane providers also had to consider ambient factors for selecting the best type of cranes for the job.

Joel Hunt, sales representative for Cropac Equipment, said: “While being on the lake provides spectacular views for residents, we had to account for the high lakeside winds, lake-affect snow and extreme cold for the project. Freestanding heights came into play for the project to reduce set-up time and cost, and we chose the cranes that gave us the highest freestanding height capability.”

When considering all factors – reach, capacity, freestanding height and reliability – Cropac and C&C Crane selected a combination of two Terex hammerhead tower crane models, the Terex SK 315 and SK 415.

The SK 315 crane offers an 8.8 to 17.6USt capacity, while the larger SK 415 crane provides a maximum lift capacity of 22USt. “The SK 415 gives us the lift capacity of 20,503 lb (9.3t) at the 164ft (50m) radius we needed on this project,” said Carey.

Cropac delivered the two cranes to the jobsite in September of 2016, and a crew of six workers from C&C Crane and Total Crane Rental, Bolton, Ontario, erected the two units on-site. To assist in tower assembly, crew members used a Terex AC 250-1 all terrain crane.

For the first phase of building construction, the SK 415 crane was built with 11 tower segments to a height of 214.9ft to clear the SK 315 crane when working at radius, and it included a 164ft jib.

As work advances on the 22-storey structure, another five tower sections with tie-back to the structure will be added to the SK 415 crane for a total hook height of 312.4ft.