Why the crane decides the programme
On a vertically built project the tower crane is the site’s single shared resource: every trade’s productivity queues behind hook time. Crane selection and management is therefore a programme decision dressed up as a plant decision — a crane 10% short on capacity or reach quietly taxes every lift for the life of the job, and a poorly managed hook schedule does the same damage with a perfect crane.
Selection fundamentals
The selection triangle is load, radius and height: the heaviest lift at its worst radius (usually the concrete kibble, a form table or the heaviest precast/module) sets the crane class, and the load chart — capacity falling as radius grows — does the real talking. In congested CBDs the choice between a hammerhead (saddle jib) and a luffing-jib crane is usually made by airspace: luffers cost more and lift slower, but their jib raises out of neighbouring airspace, which is often the difference between a permit and a redesign. Add wind design, ties/climbing strategy, and erection/dismantle logistics — frequently the hardest lifts of the entire project.
The technology now standard on well-run sites
Three systems have moved from optional to expected. Anti-collision and zoning: multi-crane sites run software-enforced slew/radius interlocks and exclusion zones over rail corridors, roads and neighbours — increasingly a permit condition, not a choice. Lift recording: modern cranes log every lift (load, radius, moment, wind, time), turning the crane into a data source. Remote and camera-assisted operation: hook cameras and load-moment displays are standard; full remote operation from ground stations is in production use in Europe and appearing in Australia.
What the data changes commercially
The crane log is quietly becoming contractual evidence. Hook-time records settle arguments about which trade got the crane and when; wind-speed logs substantiate (or kill) weather delay claims on crane-dependent activities; lift records prove a procurement or sequencing story in an EOT narrative. Builders who keep crane records live and tied to the programme have a materially stronger claims position than those who reconstruct hook allocation from memory.
The honest cost picture
A tower crane costs far more than its hire line: erection and dismantle (often with road closures), ties into the structure, an operator and dogman crew, inspections, and the programme cost of every week it stays up. The cheapest crane strategy is rarely the cheapest project — under-craning a job to save hire dollars is one of the most reliably expensive decisions in construction. Model hook demand honestly (lifts per trade per week) before signing the hire agreement, and hold a hook schedule with the same discipline as the programme.