Tag Archives: crane

Crane Hand Signals on the Jobsite

It is not that the operator does all to operate heavy equipment. At times, it is also the guy who gives signals to the operator and asks him to do what he wants him to do. Especially when the operator is working on a crane, he is more dependent on signals coming from the man he can see. He has to work precisely on those signals and can’t afford to do things on his own. Therefore it is necessary that there is a good understanding level between the operator and the man who gives signals to him.

They should be in sync with each other and the operator should not have any problem in comprehending the signals he is getting from the man in front of him. He needs signals because it is not possible for him to judge things properly and for which he needs a helping hand. Now the helping hand need not be in the form of somebody working along with him inside the cabin. He requires someone who is outside the cab and guides him all along to do a particular job which he can’t do sitting alone inside the cabin.

Now when an operator does requires a man to give him signals. He requires him the most when he needs to either load or unload a heavy thing and his view is obstructed by an object. This means that he can’t see his intended path and therefore needs someone who can guide him there. The most common and preferred form of signal used is the hand signal. The operator in this case does not want to rely on any gadget and want a person to guide him. He may not be as comfortable with a gadget and if he is not comfy with something he can’t complete a critical thing with accuracy. Moreover, as mentioned earlier there needs to be a good understanding between the signaler and the receiver. If by any chance the co-ordination between them goes wrong, it may have serious repercussions.

At a point in time, there should be only one signaler. There should not be multiple people giving signals to the operator. He may get confused if there are multiple signals given to him and end up in a disaster. Also not any person should be given the work to give signals to the operator. Only a person who is qualified and knows which signal means what should be assigned this job. Different gestures have different meanings and the signaler should be aware of every signs. Also the operator should have thorough knowledge about signals so that he can comprehend it well and act accordingly.

If there is a change of signaler that should be informed to the operator and the signaler should also wear the badge which indicates that he is now authorized to give signals. Ideally, it is recommended to have one signaler for one operator. The operator should take one signal from no matter who gives it and it is the STOP signal. If the signals are followed religiously, then the chances of accidents happening will be drastically reduced.

Heavy Equipment that builds bridges

In order to merge two cities or places that is divided by a huge mass of water, we make bridges. Bridges that are strong enough to carry the load of heavy vehicles and cars all running at the same time over it. In order to build something that needs to be so strong, one can easily imagine the kind of heavy equipment that were used to construct such a bridge. The kind of heavy equipment that one can see in a construction or a mining site may not be very useful when it comes to construction of bridges over the water but if we are building a bridge covering a small area that has more of land, then the utility of equipment like backhoe loaders or an excavator becomes essential.

Building a bridge requires deep study of the location and skilled men who can execute the work. An operator who has been working all his life operating machines in a construction site may not find this work as his cup of tea and may probably not even understand how to go ahead with a given task. It is because the kind of work he has been doing all his life is entirely different from the work that has been assigned to him.

Utility of an excavator:-

Heavy equipment like an excavator are ideally used for building bridges that does not have a huge water body beneath and it needs certain degree of excavation to be done. Excavators are usually required for building bridges. Simultaneously, it has the capability to pull out the dirt from one place and put it on the truck. Though an excavator may not be required while building bridges over a huge water body or perhaps its use is limited during the initial phase of the construction and then it is replaced by other heavy equipments.

Bulldozer is needed to level the roads:-

A bulldozer is primarily required at the time of building roads on the bridge. There are used to level the roads over the bridge. The roll of a bulldozer is also quite limited and not used extensively during the construction of a bridge.

Heavy crane bridge building machine:-

In order to build big bridges, you require huge cranes that will help to put the slabs on the face of the pillars. It is unimaginable to place those heavy slabs without the involvement of a heavy crane. These cranes are initially used to give a structure to the bridge and once the structure is formed, the slabs are placed over it with the help of these cranes. Unlike an excavator or a bulldozer which may have limited use, these cranes are extensively used during the construction of big or small bridges.

Since the making of two bridges are not the same, crane manufacturing companies have come up with different types of cranes required for the construction. Each type of crane is meant for constructing a specific kind of bridge. They comes in different shape and sizes and it varies depending upon the sort of bridge that needs to be constructed.