Crane Hire Durham

Crane hire in Durham and across the county

We provide crane hire in Durham from our depot at Darlington, about 20 miles south of Durham city on the A1(M), so the county is home ground for us rather than an out-of-area job. Work here covers a wide mix, from rooftop plant on city-centre buildings and lifts on the cathedral peninsula through to energy sites, manufacturing estates and rural jobs out towards the Pennines.

We supply mobile cranes with operators, and we plan and run full contract lifts, across Durham city, Chester-le-Street, Consett, Stanley, Spennymoor, Bishop Auckland, Newton Aycliffe, Crook and Barnard Castle. Most enquiries get a quote the same working day.

Crane hire or a contract lift?

With CPA crane hire, we supply the crane and operator, and you provide the lift plan, appointed person and lifting insurance. With a contract lift, we handle all of it. Every lift is carried out to BS 7121 by CPCS or NPORS operators, with equipment inspected under LOLER and PUWER. Our guide to crane hire vs contract lifting explains the difference in more detail.

Cranes for Durham jobs

Crane type	Capacity / reach	Typical use
All-terrain mobile crane	From 40t to 1,000t	Energy and infrastructure work, heavy plant, large structures
City crane / pick and carry	From 5t to 60t	Narrow city streets, weight-restricted and heritage sites
Mobile tower crane	Up to 60m	Tight sites needing height and reach without a fixed tower crane
Tower crane	Luffing, flat top and self-erecting	Longer construction programmes and restricted sites

Tell us the weight, radius and access for your Durham job and we’ll recommend the right machine. Not sure where to start? Read our guide to what size crane you need.

Get In Touch

Please leave a few details and a member of our crane hire and contract lifting team will be in touch to discuss your requirements in more detail.

Where we work in and around Durham

Most of our Durham crane hire work falls into a handful of sectors.

Energy and renewables

County Durham has wind, solar and energy from waste sites alongside conventional power infrastructure, and the work runs from installation and commissioning through to maintenance lifts and component changes. Many of these sites are rural, so the route and the ground matter as much as the lift itself. See our power and renewables page.

Manufacturing at Newton Aycliffe, Spennymoor and Consett

The industrial estates across the south and west of the county cover engineering, automotive supply, chemicals and specialist production. Typical jobs are machinery installs and removals, factory moves and equipment replacement on plant that is still running. See our industrial and automotive sector pages.

The cathedral peninsula and heritage work

Durham city centre is a World Heritage Site, and lifting around the cathedral, the castle and the streets on the peninsula brings its own problems: narrow approaches, weight restrictions, cobbles and very little room to set up. These jobs are usually planned around a small machine in a carefully chosen position rather than the biggest crane that will reach.

Construction and regeneration

Residential, commercial and regeneration schemes across Durham city, Chester-le-Street, Consett and Newton Aycliffe keep up steady demand for steel erection, cladding lifts and rooftop plant. See our construction sector page.

Rooftop plant on hospitals, schools and offices

Chiller and air handling unit replacement, plant room equipment and roof-level installation on buildings that stay open is a regular part of our week, and university and school work often has to fit inside a holiday shutdown. See our HVAC, healthcare and pharma and education sector pages.

Rail and infrastructure

The East Coast Main Line runs the length of the county through Durham and Chester-le-Street, and that work has to fit inside a possession with exact start and finish times. See our rail sector page.

Access and planning for lifts in Durham

Every site is different, but a few things come up again and again on Durham jobs:

Getting there. The A1(M) runs through the county with the A19 to the east and the A690 and A167 into the city. Rural sites in the west often mean narrow lanes and low bridges, so we plan the route for larger cranes and ballast loads before we quote.
The city centre. Streets on and around the peninsula are narrow and weight restricted, with limited vehicle access. The standing position usually decides the machine, so we work that out first.
Ground conditions. Parts of the county are former colliery land, where made ground and old workings can change what the ground will carry. We check ground bearing and outrigger positions, and use crane mats where needed.
Exposed sites. Ground rising towards the Pennines around Consett and Weardale catches the wind, so lifts there are planned around wind limits with some flexibility in the programme.
Road closures. Where a lift needs part of a road or pavement closed, we can arrange the traffic management and road closure with Durham County Council as part of the job.

Postcodes and areas we cover

We cover the DH and DL postcodes across County Durham, and the DH districts that reach into Tyne and Wear:

DH1, DH6 to DH9: Durham city, Bowburn, Coxhoe, Shotton Colliery, Langley Moor, Esh Winning, Lanchester, Consett, Stanley and Annfield Plain
DH2 to DH5: Chester-le-Street, Birtley, Houghton-le-Spring and Hetton-le-Hole, reaching into Gateshead and Sunderland
DL1 to DL5: Darlington, where our depot is, plus Shildon and Newton Aycliffe
DL12 to DL17: Barnard Castle, Weardale, Bishop Auckland, Crook, Spennymoor and Ferryhill
DL6 to DL11: Northallerton, Leyburn, Catterick and Richmond, across the border in North Yorkshire

Beyond the county we also work across Tyne and Wear, Teesside and North Yorkshire. See all the areas we cover.

Why Durham firms choose Synergy Lifting for crane hire

Close at hand. Our depot is at Darlington, just off the A1(M), so mobilising anywhere in the DH and DL postcodes is a short run.
Used to awkward access. Weight-restricted streets, heritage settings and rural lanes are normal planning for us, not exceptions.
Qualified and accredited. CPCS and NPORS operators, lifts planned to BS 7121, and a business certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, with Constructionline Gold Member registration.
One contractor for the whole lift. We can take on the lift plan, appointed person, RAMS, supervision and insurance.

More than cranes

Many Durham jobs need more than a lift, so we also offer:

How to book a crane

Send us the site location, load weight, access details and dates. Photos help.
We quote, usually the same working day. Complex lifts may need a site visit first.
For contract lifts we prepare the lift plan and RAMS. For CPA hire we advise on crane position and set-up.
We arrive on the agreed day and carry out the lift to BS 7121.

Common questions

Can you lift in Durham city centre and on the peninsula?

Yes, with the right machine. Access, weight limits and the space to set up decide what we can bring, so send us photos and the nearest street for the crane to stand on and we’ll tell you what is workable before you commit to a date.

Do you cover the whole of County Durham?

Yes, the DH postcodes and the DL postcodes, from Chester-le-Street and Consett down to Bishop Auckland, Newton Aycliffe and Barnard Castle. Our depot is at Darlington, so the whole county is local work for us.

Can you work on a rural site with soft ground?

Usually. We check what the ground will carry, plan the outrigger positions and bring crane mats where the bearing is marginal. If the ground is genuinely unsuitable we’ll say so at quote stage rather than find out on the day.

Get a quote for crane hire in Durham

Phone: 0191 313 0049
Email: durham@synergy-lifting.co.uk

Our nearest depot is Synergy Lifting Ltd, Unit 34, Forge Way North, Cleveland Industrial Estate, Darlington, DL1 2PB, about 20 miles from Durham city on the A1(M).

We also provide crane hire in Sunderland, Newcastle, Hartlepool and Darlington. See all the areas we cover.