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Remote-control tower crane: what’s it like to drive?
Justin Stanton Editor, CM Digital
The screens in the Skyline Cockpit replicate the view from the top of the crane
What’s it like to drive a tower crane remotely? In the latest issue of u003cemu003eConstruction Managementu003c/emu003e, Winvic provides the answer.
The contractor is using the Skyline Cockpit technology from Radius Group on the 33-storey Crown Place Birmingham student accommodation project. It is the first time the technology has been used outside its home country of Israel.
Dale Burton, resource manager at Radius, told CM that driving the tower crane remotely feels the same as if he were in the cab. “When you are driving the crane you feel the machine move. Here, your eyes take in the movement conveyed by the cameras,” he said.
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The remote approach has inherent safety benefits compared with the traditional method. The operator has more information – such as wind speed and radius data – displayed in front of them; the cameras give better views of the site and of the hook; there isn’t a 30-to-40-minute climb to reach the controls; and if an operator were taken ill, getting them to safety would be a straightforward matter.
Improved wellbeing
It’s better for wellbeing too, Burton said. “Being stuck up in a crane, you are a bit isolated. All you have is the walkie-talkie; it is your friend. Down here you have more interaction.” Going to the toilet is a far more civilised experience too.
And there are productivity benefits too. Winvic operations manager David Elson is project manager on the job. He told CM that analysis of the crane’s daily and weekly patterns of activity shows that the remote approach has improved efficiencies in lifting by just under 10%.
Skyline Cockpit is not the only envelope-pushing technology that Winvic is using on Crown Place Birmingham: it is also using the second generation of the HP Site Print setting-out robot and Gamma AR technology for quality assurance.
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