Contents
Overview
What is a city crane?
A city crane is a compact mobile crane built for tight sites. It drives to site on the road and lifts from outriggers with a telescopic boom, like a larger mobile crane. Its size sets it apart: short and low for its capacity, it works in narrow streets and small yards where a bigger crane will not fit.
In short
- What a city crane lifts on your job depends on the radius to the load’s centre of gravity.
- Choose one when access limits the job, such as a cramped street or a low entrance.
- If the outriggers have room to spread fully, compare it with an all-terrain crane of the same size.
- A city crane lifts from outriggers, so it is a different machine from a pick and carry crane, which travels with the load.
We supply city cranes from about 10 t to 70 t for crane hire and contract lifting.
How it works
How a city crane is built
Counterweight balances the load while the crane stands on its outriggers, and a hydraulic boom telescopes out to reach it.
A short carrier that steers on every axle
Kato’s 13 t CR-130RV runs on two axles that both steer, front and rear independently. The Terex Demag AC 70 City has four axles, all steered, with independent rear axle steering, and Liebherr’s LTC 1050-3.1 has three, with active rear axle steering. That lets the crane turn tightly through a narrow gate or yard. The CR-130RV is under 7.5 m long.
One cab for driving and lifting
Liebherr builds its LTC compact cranes with a single cab to keep them small. The cab moves forward for road travel and back for crane work, and on the 50 t LTC 1050-3.1 an optional lift cab raises the operator to an eye level of 7.8 m.
Low overall height
Overall height sets whether the crane can drive through a doorway into a building. Kato gives its CR-130RV an overall height of 2.87 m and its 25 t CR-250RV 3.50 m.
A small footprint on outriggers
Some city cranes can extend each outrigger beam to a different length, so the crane can set up where one side has less room. Liebherr calls this VarioBase, and Tadano’s Flex Base gives stepless outrigger positions. The capacity then depends on the outrigger positions actually set, and the lift is checked against the load chart for that set-up. Tadano also gives its AC 3.045-1 City a short boom base, so the boom can work at steep angles in a tight space.
Electric options
Liebherr offers the LTC 1050-3.1E with an electric motor alongside its diesel engine. Tadano offers an optional electrohydraulic E-Pack for the AC 3.045-1 City, which it says gives zero emissions and quieter operation.
Sizes
City crane sizes and capacity
City cranes are named by their maximum capacity in tonnes, and that figure applies only with the load close in. Capacity falls as the radius grows, so the weight of the load and the radius to its centre of gravity are always taken together. Our guide What size crane do I need? explains how.
The table gives one example at each size, from makers’ data.
| Maximum capacity | Example city crane | Longest main boom |
|---|---|---|
| 13 t | Kato CR-130RV | 24 m |
| 20 t | Kato CR-200Rf | 28 m |
| 25 t | Kato CR-250RV | 29 m |
| 30 t | Terex Demag AC 30 City | 25 m |
| 50 t | Liebherr LTC 1050-3.1 | 36 m |
| 70 t | Terex Demag AC 70 City | 52 m |
Kato’s current city range runs from the 13 t CR-130RV to the 25 t CR-250RV. The largest crane in Liebherr’s current compact range is the 50 t LTC 1050-3.1. Larger city cranes have also been built, such as the 70 t Terex Demag AC 70 City.
Smaller city cranes, up to 25 t
The smallest city cranes are short and narrow enough to work between buildings and inside large ones, where the loads are modest and the space is tight. Ours start at about 10 t.
Larger city cranes, 30 t to 70 t
The 30 t AC 30 City runs on two axles with a 25 m main boom. Tadano’s AC 3.045-1 City has three axles and a 31.2 m main boom, and the Terex Demag AC 70 City has four axles and a 52 m boom. They take heavier plant and longer reaches on sites too cramped for an all-terrain crane of the same capacity. Between our smallest and largest city cranes we supply sizes including 13, 20, 25, 30 and 50 t. Our crane library has the spec sheet and load charts for each city crane from 30 t to 70 t, from the Terex Demag AC 30 City to the Terex Demag AC 70 City.
Compared
City crane or all-terrain crane?
Both are wheeled mobile cranes, and size is what separates them.
When a city crane fits better
A city crane is the better pick where access is tight: a street lined with parked cars, or a yard reached under a low canopy. A smaller crane also takes up less of the road while it works.
When an all-terrain crane fits better
An all-terrain crane carries heavier loads to longer reaches where the site has room to set it up. All-terrain cranes run from around 40 t to over 1,000 t, as our guide What is an all-terrain crane? explains.
On some jobs either would do. The choice then comes down to where the crane can stand and what it has to reach over.
Uses
Where city cranes are used
City cranes go wherever a mobile crane is needed but space around the lift is short.
- Town and city centre sites: lifting from the road onto roofs and into buildings where a larger crane has no room to set up.
- Roof-top plant: chillers and air handling units, covered in our guide to lifting chillers and AHUs and our lift and shift service.
- Inside large buildings: factories and plant halls with enough headroom and a floor that can take the outrigger loads.
- Service yards and car parks: deliveries and installations on busy commercial and industrial sites.
- Steel and glass: light steelwork on cramped sites through our steel erection and dismantling service, and glazing, as our guide to glass lifting describes.
Planning
Planning a city crane lift
Most of the planning on a city crane job goes into where the crane will stand and what surrounds it.
Road space and permits
In Great Britain, a lane or road is closed for works by a temporary order or notice from its traffic authority under section 14 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. A crane that stands on or swings over a road or pavement also needs a permit or licence from the council responsible for the road, which is the highway authority in England and Wales and the roads authority in Scotland. Our guide to crane site preparation covers the application. Notice periods differ between authorities, so apply early. Our traffic management and road closures service can handle the applications and the traffic control while the crane is there.
Ground under the outriggers
Pavements and yards can hide cellars and buried services, and each outrigger pad puts a concentrated load into the ground. On a contract lift we submit ground bearing pressure calculations covering the outrigger loads and mats, and the site’s own competent person confirms the ground is suitable. Our guide to outrigger mats covers ground bearing pressure, and BS 7121-3, the code of practice for mobile cranes, gives guidance on ground conditions and the loads mobile cranes put on the ground.
Overhead obstructions
City sites are crowded overhead, with building edges, trees, street lights and cables. HSE guidance note GS6, Avoiding danger from overhead power lines, is aimed at anyone supervising or in control of work near live overhead lines, and the lift plan fixes how close the boom and load may go.
The lift plan
In Great Britain, regulation 8 of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) requires the employer to ensure that every lifting operation is properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out in a safe manner. On our contract lifts the plan comes from our appointed person, written in house, and on a public road the plan also sets the exclusion zone and how people and traffic are kept clear. Our guide What is a lift plan? covers who writes it on a crane hire.
Hiring
Hiring a city crane
Every city crane we supply comes with a CPCS or NPORS carded operator, and our lifts are planned to BS 7121.
Crane hire or contract lift
On crane hire we supply the crane and operator and you manage the lift. On a contract lift we plan and carry out the whole lift, with road closures arranged where they are needed. Our guide to crane hire or a contract lift sets out who is responsible for what under each.
How hire is priced
We price crane hire by the day or the week, with a premium for nights and weekends. Our guide How much does crane hire cost? explains what drives the price.
What we need to know
- The weight and dimensions of the load, and where its lifting points are
- Where the crane can stand and how far it is from there to the load’s final position
- Access to the site, including any height, width or weight restrictions
- Whether the crane will stand on a public road or pavement
Questions
Common questions
How much can a city crane lift?
City cranes range from about 10 t to 70 t maximum capacity, and we supply them across that range. The maximum applies only at the shortest radius, so what a crane can lift on your job depends on the radius to the load’s centre of gravity. Each lift is checked against the load chart of the actual crane.
How wide is a city crane?
The smallest city cranes are about 2 m wide: Kato lists its 13 t CR-130RV at 1.995 m. Width grows with capacity, so Kato’s 25 t CR-250RV is 2.40 m wide and Liebherr’s 50 t LTC 1050-3.1 is 2.55 m. Check the crane’s width against every gate and street on the way to the lift position.
Can a city crane work inside a building?
Yes, in a building large enough to take it. The smaller and lower city cranes can drive into factories and plant halls and lift beneath the roof, provided the entrance and headroom are big enough and the floor can take the outrigger loads. Liebherr describes its LTC 1050-3.1 working at a power plant with limited room height.
What is the difference between a city crane and an all-terrain crane?
The main difference is size. A city crane is built small for cramped sites, from narrow streets to the inside of large buildings. An all-terrain crane is a bigger machine, built for heavy lifts on open sites, and runs from around 40 t to over 1,000 t. Both drive on the road and set up on outriggers before they lift.
Is a city crane the same as a pick and carry crane?
No, they are different types. A city crane needs its outriggers down before it lifts. A pick and carry crane lifts on its wheels with no outriggers and can drive with the load on the hook, which helps across a factory floor. Our own electric pick and carry cranes lift 5 t to 12 t.
Is a city crane a compact crane?
A city crane is one kind of compact crane: a compact mobile crane on wheels, and Liebherr sells its own as LTC compact cranes. The term also covers much smaller machines for indoor work, such as spider cranes, which are a different type of crane.
Get a quote
Get a quote for city crane hire
Call us on 0800 008 6096 or email office@synergy-lifting.co.uk. Send us the load and where the crane can stand, and we will recommend the right crane.
Find out more about our crane hire and contract lifting service and our traffic management service for road closures.
Related
Find out more
Get a quote
Ready for a quote?
Send us the details and we will come back with a quote, usually the same day for a desktop survey.
Or call 0800 008 6096
