The cranes at Hall of Fame Avenue and Monroe Street will be on campus for about 14 more months.
Walking down Monroe Street, you can’t miss the yellow monstrosity of metal sitting at the research center construction site.
But the 160-foot tower crane isn’t the only machine of its kind on campus, said Monty Karns, assistant director of long range facilities planning.
Workers use two “telescopic boom cranes,” which lift objects using a series of hydraulic tubes, at the stadium construction site and another smaller boom crane at the parking garage project at Hall of Fame Avenue and Monroe Street, Karns said.
Students sick of looking at the tower crane will have to get used to the machinery. It will stay on campus for about 14 more months.
Access to the daily rate for the boom cranes wasn’t available because the cost is lumped into the overall cost of the projects’ construction, he said.
However, the tower crane comes with a price tag of $1,000 per day, Karns said.
The tower crane is the largest crane on campus with 230 feet available on which its hook travels back and forth.
The length of the other cranes varies from 110 feet to the 140 feet.
The amount the tower crane can lift depends on how far its boom, the adjustable arm, is extended.
It can lift three tons at the far end and 12 tons closest to the tower.
The crane at the parking garage can lift at most 40 tons. One of the stadium cranes can lift 60 tons while the other’s maximum lifting power is 30 tons.
Even though a sign reading “Danger: Overhead Crane” is posted at the site of the tower crane, Karns said people shouldn’t worry about any of the cranes coming crashing down.
Of the reported 28 accidents from the construction sites, none have involved cranes.
Before it was used, the tower crane and its operator had to pass a long series of safety tests and training, Karns said.
“He’s up there 120 feet off the ground,” Karns said. “And he wants to go home to supper every night like the rest of us. The operator has the most vested interest in making sure that thing stays safe.”
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