Reviewing the Tower Cranes North America Conference

A record crowd of close to 300 attended the Tower Cranes North America conference June 11-12 in Nashville, TN. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive from delegates, speakers and sponsors alike.

SC&RA CEO Joel Dandrea welcomed the crowd to Nashville and discussed various SC&RA priorities.

Following an opening address from Joel Dandrea, chief executive officer at SC&RA, TCNA’s exclusive event partner, the conference got underway with the keynote presentation from Sam Moyer, general manager at ALL Tower Crane. He gave his carefully considered take on how the industry is evolving and what is helping to shape its future. Much of the work for tower cranes at the moment is coming from projects to construct privately funded healthcare facilities and student accommodations for the education sector. Ongoing data center construction is also good for all types of crane rental. He said the market is akin to driving with the parking brake on, with reason for optimism and caution.

ALL Erection’s Sam Moyer gave the keynote address.

Into the details

Technical presentations covered how to prepare cranes for bad weather and the pros and cons of steel versus synthetic fiber for hoisting applications. Crane Risk Logic Founder Jim Wiethorn presented a session about preparing for wind and weather conditions, giving important statistics about how wind and weather affects tower cranes. Wireco’s Timothy Klein and Kennedy Wire Rope’s Brooks Nunley discussed the differences between wire and fiber rope and the prospects for fiber rope replacing wire rope.

A panel discussion about erecting, reconfiguring and dismantling tower cranes drew lots of questions from the audience. It highlighted just how important it is to gain experience in such operations and to closely follow the correct procedures. The panel included Finnco’s Matt Finnerty, Brasfield & Gorrie’s JR Moran, Compass Equipment’s (Uperio) Kelly Hadland and Manitowoc/Potain’s Chris Noblit.

A panel discussion about erecting, reconfiguring and dismantling tower cranes drew lots of questions from the audience.

Site reports

A site report from Pedro Alonso at Espamex gave interesting insight into efficiencies achieved on the project to construct the spectacular 475-meter Rise Tower in Mexico. Among many other things, Alonso highlighted the value of working as closely as possible with the project developer from the earliest stage to maximize the potential of the craneage.

In the afternoon, two sessions focused on the critical legal aspects of rental contracts and crane accident compensation claims. Both were expertly presented with clear takeaways for crane owners, primarily how important it is to ensure you have correctly worded contracts making it clear who has responsibility for the cranes on a project. The four attorneys, all with extensive experience defending crane companies, included Jesse Callahan and Jason Vovault with May Potenza Baran & Gillespie, Anna Dodds with Hartline Barger and Clayton Callen with Bowman and Brooke.

Attorneys Clayton Callen and Anna Dodds discussed how a recent tower crane lawsuit was won due to contract language.

A second project report in the afternoon detailed the fascinating story of the Crazy Horse memorial project in South Dakota. Morrow’s Peter Juhren discussed how the project has been under construction for decades using mostly manual labor. A tower crane is now being brought in to accelerate the project to carve an entire mountain into a memorial. It depicts Crazy Horse, or Tasunke Witco, a native American hero who stood up for his people against oppression in the 19th century.

Terex’s Andreas Ernst and Select Crane Sales’ Shelly Gayring discussed one of the biggest challenges in the industry, workforce development. Gayring presented the results of a SC&R Foundation and NCCCO Foundation study about the state of the crane and transport workforce.

Videos to come

The final presentation by Vita Industrial’s Casey Savlov discussed load stabilizing technologies for improving lifting operations.

TCNA is organized by American Cranes & Transport and International Cranes and Specialized Transport magazines and its publisher and parrent company KHL Group. Check back at www.craneandtransportbriefing.com to see videos of each presentation.

Attorneys Jesse Callahan and Jason Vovault discussed borrow servant contract language and the protections it can offer.

Sponsors of the conference included AMCS, Bondura Technology, Brasfield & Gorrie, Comansa, Creative Lifting Services, Cropac Equipment, Jaso, United Rentals Power & HVAC, Kito Crosby, Lewis Crane & Hoist, Liebherr, Manitowoc Potain, Maxim Crane Works, Morrow Equipment, Neargrid Solutions, North American Crane & Rigging, Roycap Machinery/Capital Crane, Stafford Crane Group, Terex, Tipton Crane, UltraWis and Wolffkran.