There's no more visible sign of Madison's building boom than the cranes that dot the the city's skyline.

For decades, the man at the helm of some of those massive machines has been Scott Sands, who has spent 37 years as a crane operator in the Madison area.

"I put buildings up," said Sands, of Sun Prairie, a crane operator with Ideal Crane Rental, 4349 Acker Road.

Daniel from Super Trees is a Master Arborist who whipped Nicea’s yard into beautiful shape. Fall is a great time to be planting trees, because the soil is nice and warm. Taking care of the roots is everything, Daniel says, this is the foundation, and the tree needs a strong one to build a good and healthy top.

When it comes to pruning, Daniel says trees need to be pruned every other year to third year. This fall is a great time to prune before facing heavy winter snow. We hear tips on structure, on why you should play music for your trees – no, really! And so much more.

The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Health and Safety Administration has proposed a revision to the federal regulations for personal protective equipment in the construction industry.

The revised rule would explicitly state that PPE must properly fit each employee, similar to requirements already in place in OSHA's general industry and maritime standards. Currently, the construction standard states that PPE “shall be provided, used, and maintained in a sanitary and reliable condition whenever it is necessary by reasons of hazards.”

Everyone is at risk when crane safety fails. Your workers are on the front line where injuries (and sometimes fatalities) can happen. Pedestrians in more populated areas are susceptible to injury. Your equipment is at risk and so is your business. How do you respond to accidents or work to prevent them when everything is on the line? 

Crane operators 

Crane operators are often the very first people to be held responsible for accidents – and operators certainly can be held responsible – but there are also people “below the hook” who had to do a lot of work before the operator even clocked in for their shift. 

“Ship Ahoy!” was the cry heard in the Niederfrohna primary school recently.

The small town with just over 2,200 inhabitants, Niederfrohna near Chemnitz in Saxony had applied to the Playmobil Foundation for Children’s Funding for an Activity Ship – and received confirmation. During the summer holidays, a truck with the long-awaited colourful pirate boat rolled up: 6m long and equipped with 6.50m high masts.

Conductix-Wampfler, a manufacturer of mobile electrification and data transfer systems for industrial machinery, has announced the roll-out of its newest radio solution for the North American overhead crane market.

Airmark is an all-in-one, out-of-the-box product that includes one receiver, two transmitters, two lanyards, batteries, two labels, and a user manual.

Drones have become an essential tool for monitoring construction progress and providing quality assurance. The ability to quickly and easily view what’s happening on a jobsite and share it with stakeholders has made drones one of the most widely adopted new technologies in construction. Advancements in camera and drone technology are also enabling new use cases.

Workforce challenges are a mainstay of the specialized transport and lifting industry, which often struggles to recruit, train and retain workers. As well, pertinent research and information regarding workforce issues is difficult to find.

Efficiency doesn’t seem like a sexy or glamorous subject when compared to discussing the latest and greatest climbing products or machinery on the market. The new, shiny, expensive gear and the latest machinery I keep looking at in the arb magazines all play a part in improving my efficiency practices. But think about it – would you buy a new ascender that was the coolest color and the nicest shape and had the best name if you heard it dragged badly on the rope, causing a lot of friction and making your ascent more difficult? With this prior knowledge, probably not.

Not every load can be hung from a hook – frequently, some kind of special attachment is needed. Julian Champkin reports.

A crane or hoist with a hook on the end seems a clear and simple solution to most lifting problems. But loads can be awkward things: very few of them, for example, have that convenient, and indeed necessary, hole on their upper side, exactly above their centre of gravity – the one that you need for your hook to have something to lift with.

When your crane is ageing it is time to get a new one… or is it? Refurbishment can bring older machines back to as new and may be a more economical and environmentally-friendly option. Julian Champkin reports

In my work as an arborist, I do a lot of assessing and speculation with folks. Will this tree fall on my house, does that tree look healthy, what would you do about this or that, etc.  It's always interesting to go see a new tree, in a new environment, and look for clues that lead to a satisfactory outcome.

After another month of construction employment gains (25,000 new jobs) in the U.S. economy, the challenge of finding labor to complete the potential work remains high. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment of electricians, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters will grow 10 percent from 2020 to 2030, much faster than the average for all occupations.

Many factors are driving the lattice boom crawler crane market, including a steady stream of infrastructure projects throughout North America. The market for crawler cranes, often considered the standard-bearer in the realm of cranes, is trending in a positive direction.

Jim Jatho, crawler cranes product manager, Liebherr USA, said the crawler market is evolving, and demand is increasing.

A girdling root is a root that circles around at least one side of the main trunk.  You’ll usually see them at or slightly below the soil surface.  These roots wrap tightly around the trunk, putting pressure on it. As result, movement of water and nutrients to the leaves is restricted.

Many benefits can be achieved by optimizing one’s fleet and integrating safety into vehicles. These include improved efficiency, decreased costs, less downtime, more productivity, and reduced fleet risk.

Link-Belt Cranes has announced the release of its 5th generation 218|V lattice crawler crane.

The 218|V (five) represents the fifth generation crane since the original HYLAB introduction more than 35 years ago.

“Larger cranes often get more publicity for making eye-catching big lifts, but the daily, versatile workhorse in the industry is this size of machine,” said Brian Elkins, Link-Belt Cranes’ Product Manager for Crawler Cranes. 

Improper or inadequate cargo securement accounted for 10.6 percent of vehicle out-of-service violations during last year’s Commercial Vehicle Safety Check’s International Roadcheck,” Ledger said. “Besides the risk of being placed out of service, there are many more serious consequences for improper cargo control securement, including citations and fines, damage to the vehicle, damage to the cargo, loss of the load, or even loss of life.”

Properly securing cargo loads is always worth the time and effort. It’s important to understand how tie downs should be used to ensure safe and legal cargo securement.

Discover the significance of tree inventories and tagging systems in our latest video with host and ISA Certified Arborist Wes Rivers. A tree inventory is a comprehensive record that documents the size, condition, and species of every tree on a property. In this informative episode, we explore how this valuable information is utilized by large property owners, HOAs, and corporate campuses to effectively manage their tree assets.

The Valla division of Manitex is to launch two new pedestrian controlled pick & carry cranes, the 4.6 tonne V46 R and the 13 tonne V130 RX in October. They join the recently annouced seven tonne 70 R and new 10 tonne V100 RX.