GLAD
like large-scale robots, and robotics is a rapidly evolving and exciting field within mechanical engineering. While kinetic architecture – such as moving stadium roofs and drawbridges – also captures mechanical engineers’ interest, cranes continue to attract a significant portion of this professional talent. Consider the complexity involved in deploying a floating crane capable of lifting 3,500 metric tonnes – or nearly eight million pounds. Container cranes, often as prominent on coastal skylines as buildings and bridges, are a vital part of the infrastructure but are frequently overlooked. CP&A provides a broad range of services, including specification, design, manufacturing review, modification and accident investigation. Therefore, it is positioned to recognise a growing concern in the industry: the shortage of structural engineers, a critical specialisation within civil engineering.
Take the crane bridge “There is high competition for structural engineers,” said Phillips. “But the crane industry shouldn’t be overlooked. Cranes can be located in hurricane zones and high seismic zones; this means you get to practice and develop both of these skills. Cranes are often built at a manufacturing plant then transported to the installation site. For container cranes, they are often shipped on vessels in potentially rough seas. Analysing a structure that is traveling across an ocean is not something every engineer gets to do.”
Phillips emphasised that engineers who
aspire to work on bridges, or who already do, are particularly well-suited to careers in crane engineering. After all, a crane boom acts like a bridge, allowing the trolley to travel across it to pick up containers from a vessel and deliver them to their destination. Even in overhead crane systems, part of the structure is commonly referred to as the ‘bridge’, where the trolley moves back and forth while handling loads. Just like bridge engineering, working with cranes offers the potential to move people and their careers forward. Phillips added: “There is a lot of opportunity for travel in the crane industry. Cranes are located all around the world and, as world-class engineers, our services are in demand globally. We currently have ongoing projects in Washington, California, Massachusetts, Delaware, New York and Georgia. We also have projects in Indonesia, Canada, Germany and Argentina. There is a consistent need for new ship-to- shore cranes, even as vessel sizes increase.
38 | June 2025 |
www.hoistmagazine.com The crane industry has a lot to offer structural engineers.
The cranes need to be taller and have larger cantilevers.” There are also strong parallels between cranes and stadiums, though there are far more cranes being built than retractable stadium roofs. Like cranes, mobile stadium roofs require complex rail systems and specialists who can calculate the loads associated with the movement of large structures. This includes accounting for inertial effects of acceleration and deceleration. Because these systems undergo many motion cycles, fatigue analysis becomes a critical aspect of the engineering process. Integrating such motion systems also require collaboration with mechanical and electrical engineers. The potential for engineering innovation in the crane industry is vast – something that
becomes increasingly clear amid the ongoing shortage of civil engineers. CP&A has been at the forefront of advanced analysis methods, utilising nonlinear time history analysis (NLTHA) for both research and engineering applications since 1991. CP&A’s crane base anti-seismic isolation system (BASIS) is designed for ship-to-shore gantry cranes. Based on NLTHA, BASIS is capable of protecting the main structure of a crane even during high-intensity, contingency-level earthquakes. “These are very useful analysis tools
to evaluate non-building structures that do not behave like buildings. Crane structures are unique, and the typical structural codes were not written with cranes in mind. This can result in interesting clauses applying that require application of
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