Watching a tower crane go up in Portland made me think about the ground crew

I was walking through the Pearl District last week and they were putting up a new tower crane for a condo project. I stood there for maybe 20 minutes just watching the mobile crane lift the first few mast sections. What really got me was the guy on the ground with the radio. He wasn't just spotting, he was calling out every single movement for the guy in the cab, even for stuff that looked clear from my angle. It made me realize how much we rely on that voice in our ear, you know? I've been in the seat for 8 years and sometimes you just get used to it, but seeing it from the outside, it's a whole different dance. That ground guy had to watch the load, the rigging, the traffic, and the crane all at once. Makes you appreciate a good signal person. What's the most unexpected thing a signal person has caught for you on a tight lift?

3 comments

3 Comments

troy8323mo ago

Totally get that. Saw a signal person catch a loose strap on a pallet of bricks once. Would have been a real bad day if that gave way halfway up.

max4153mo ago

You mentioning that voice in your ear is spot on. A buddy of mine was lifting a big HVAC unit over a finished roof and his signal person stopped him because a worker had left a coffee thermos right in the swing path. It was a tiny thing he never would have seen from up there. That focus saves more than just time.

jessica_ross382mo ago

That focus on the tiny things, like max415's thermos story, is everything. I once had a signal person stop me because a pigeon landed on my load line and he was worried it would startle when I swung. It sounds silly, but that bird could have flown right into my cab glass.