Construction Equipment Guide
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Mon February 10, 2020 - National Edition
When asked to provide a feature on cranes I decided early on this was a fairly illustrative photo shoot. That didn't stop me from perusing through the more than 200,000 images I have but, I kept returning to this scene. It is very standard, straight forward and even simplistic crane work. Yet, that crane you are looking at was, at least for a time in 1956 to 1957, the world's largest truck crane. A lot has transpired in 60 years. Today, hydraulic truck cranes of 1,000 ton capacity or more roam cities.
You might also notice some of the things missing. A few workmen weren't wearing hardhats. There is not an orange barrel in sight, they hadn't been invented yet. Today, workman would be fastening the bridge beam braces from the safety of man-lifts a machine that didn't exist in 1957.
This story also appears on Crane Equipment Guide.