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Although overhead cranes are by no means new to metal buildings, they probably seem to show up just often enough to make you feel
dangerous with your knowledge. Bottom line is that you find cranes to be a big pain in the neck and your happy to off load them to the
building owner whenever possible. It has been our experience that cranes are normally not considered until near the end of the
planning process. It is Dearborn Crane & Engineering’s position that if crane issues are moved closer to the beginning of the planning
process, there is significant money to be saved, competitive advantage to be gained and profits to be realized.
The following is a brief collection of issues that will face the contractor and/or building owner. For more detailed description,
additional pictures and free downloads of checklists and specifications, visit our web site at www.dearborncrane.com.
This represents a great place to become an "added value supplier" and break out of the "peddler" mode. At Dearborn Crane, we
have computerized the design, and estimating of overhead cranes and runways. Although we would prefer 3 days to prepare a
quote and drawing, if you are in a pinch, we can provide the dimensions and loadings over the phone, and fax you a general
layout drawing immediately. This data will soon be available immediately at our website.
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Tips, Tricks and Traps Page 2 of 3
inch area to be clear of all obstructions.
1. Required Clearances
As stated in item #3, OSHA specifies a vertical clearance of 3 inches as well as a horizontal clearance between the crane and
any stationary objects of 2 inches. It has been our experience that on long span buildings, the 3 inch requirement although
legal, represents a potential "land mine". It is important to understand that long span cranes (usually those longer than 55 feet)
are typically box girder type cranes. Box girders are required to be fabricated with a camber (about an inch in 100 feet).
Therefore when you have a long span building (with above average deflection), in conjunction with crane camber…"bingo",
not only have you lost your 3 inch clearance, but the top of your hoist is hitting the bottom side of a truss. Likewise, on tall
buildings, if columns are as little as a single degree out of plumb, the required 2 inch horizontal clearance can evaporate.
BTDT-DWDA!!!
It is therefore our policy that, where ever possible, Dearborn Crane uses 6 inches for vertical and 3 inches for horizontal
clearance. This provides a very inexpensive insurance policy, especially when you consider how costly it is to fix the problem
after the fact.
Duty cycle and operation requirements are the single most critical issues in crane design and pricing. Investigate our web site
for a detailed explanation of the CMAA (Crane Manufacturers of America) rating system. Important note, if your crane
supplier can’t quote you "chapter and verse", regarding the CMAA duty cycle specs, find another supplier fast!
4. Installation Tolerances
Although runways appear to be nothing more than building steel rotated in a horizontal orientation, this is not the case.
Runways are a piece of machinery and need to be installed to machinery tolerances. The CMAA specification requires that
crane runways be +/- ¼ inch in 20 feet and +/- 3/8 inch over the full length of the runway. Since runway girders are often
installed by ironworkers aquainted with tolerances acceptable to installation of red iron building steel, they are usually
surprised by the CMAA crane runway tolerances. This mis-undersanding can lead to the dreaded "B" word (backcharges) and
hard feelings between the owner and building contractor. A detailed write-up of runway installation practices is available on
our website.
In summary, cranes can add additional level of complexity to a building. Unlike heating, seismic issues and roofing, which are part of
every building, cranes only show up often enough to provide a false sense of confidence. Your best protection is to be aware of the
appropriate questions, (leave the answers to your qualified vendor, you have more important things to do). Visit at our website and
download our "Cranes in Metal Buildings" checklists. The eight points listed are only the tip of the iceberg. Our website expands on
these issues and adds more. We also have a one hour training session available on CD ROM. If you would like a free copy of our CD-
ROM "Cranes for Architects, Engineers and Contractors", send me an e -mail at Ldunville@DearbornCrane.com, or call me a 219-
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Tips, Tricks and Traps Page 3 of 3
259-2444.
Larry Dunville
A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the Harvard Business School, is the owner and president of Dearborn Crane &
Engineering Co. Larry has building cranes systems since working as a welder during high school summers and installing cranes as an
apprentice Ironworker during college. Larry has two material handling patents and has written several magazine articles.
Dearborn is a builder of Overhead Bridge Cranes. Dearborn is located in Mishawaka, Indiana. Founded in 1947, Dearborn Crane is
celebrating it’s 50 th year of business. In 1997 Dearborn was awarded the Indiana Governor’s "Quest for Excellence", and is expected
to complete ISO 9000 certification by the end of 1998.
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