Crane Buildings in Lawton, Oklahoma

A runway beam has to carry a moving load that never sits still, and the building around it has to be stiff enough that the crane runs true year after year. That is the difference between a crane building and an ordinary high-bay shop. A bridge crane adds vertical wheel loads, side thrust and longitudinal braking forces to the structure, plus the impact of lifting and setting down heavy pieces. If the columns flex or the foundations settle, the rails go out of alignment, the crane binds and the maintenance bills start.

Crane-served buildings are built for manufacturers, fabricators, equipment repair shops, steel and precast yards and heavy-maintenance facilities. The crane may be a small jib or a double-girder bridge crane of many tons, and the owner may not have chosen the crane vendor yet when the building is being designed. We press early for the crane's capacity, span, class of service, wheel loads and travel speeds, because those items control the column size and the foundations.

We build crane buildings as ground-up structures and as bay additions to existing plants. For the frame itself, see structural steel erection and clear-span rigid frame buildings, which cover the underlying structural systems.

Who does what on a crane job

A crane building divides into trades with little overlap: the foundation and slab, the structural frame with runway beams and rails, the crane itself with its electrification, the envelope, and the building's utilities. We take responsibility for fitting them together. The crane vendor is typically separate from the steel erector, and each has tolerances the other must meet. The rail alignment tolerance, for example, is tighter than normal steel erection tolerances, so a survey crew has to check it independently.

We hold coordination meetings with the crane vendor, the steel fabricator and the foundation engineer before the first pour, and again before the runway beams are set. Anchor bolts for crane columns are surveyed to a tighter tolerance than ordinary bolts, and we do not release the steel until the survey is accepted. The point is to find a mismatch on paper, not on the day the crane is installed.

The structure under the crane

Crane columns are usually heavier than the rest of the frame, and the foundations under them carry larger vertical and horizontal loads. Brackets or corbels support the runway beams, which are typically stiff, deep members with a rail clipped to the top flange. Lateral bracing keeps the runway from rolling, and stops at the ends take impact from the crane if it runs past its limit.

Slab design matters as much as the frame. A crane building often also runs forklifts, die carts or heavy components across the floor, and the slab has to be thick enough, jointed properly and finished flat enough for the equipment. We coordinate slab thickness, reinforcing and joint layout with the engineer, and check the finish flatness the owner's equipment requires. Our pages on concrete foundations and commercial concrete floors go through the pour and finish methods.

Owners with heavy lifting to do

Manufacturers are the largest buyers. Lawton's Oklahoma SW Rail Industrial Park lists tenants including a tire maker, a food processor, a machine and tool shop, a pipe maker, a nickel refinery, a paperboard mill and an aerospace manufacturer, and the park has the Stillwater Central Railroad running through it with tenant rail spurs built to suit. Those are companies that move heavy material. See our manufacturing page.

Duncan, about 30 miles east of Lawton, still has a large oilfield-services employer operating seven complexes and a technology center, according to a general reference. Heavy equipment work of that kind commonly relies on overhead cranes. Our manufacturing plant page describes how crane service fits into plant layouts.

Fitting the crane into the building schedule

Crane vendors and building contractors work to different calendars. The crane is often ordered months before the building is closed in, and it ships on the manufacturer's schedule, not ours. We ask for the delivery date and the installation requirements up front, including how the crane girders will be lifted into place, whether the building must be partly open for the lift, and what temporary power the commissioning crew needs.

Weather can complicate it. A building left open for a crane lift is exposed to the wind and rain the plains deliver. We plan the closing-in sequence around the crane delivery, protect the slab and electrical gear, and hold the lift if the forecast is wrong. Equipment of this kind is usually a long-lead item, so we treat it the way we treat other long-lead procurement: release early, track weekly, and keep a fallback date.

Operating a crane safely in the building

After the building is complete, the crane is a hazard of its own. Operators need training, lifts must stay within rated capacity, and the electrical supply, festoons or conductor bars, and limit switches must be tested and inspected. We hand over the crane building with a commissioning record that includes load tests, runway alignment measurements and inspection of all structural connections.

During construction, crane-building erection has a few unusual risks. Runway beams are heavy and are lifted high above the floor, then must be aligned in place. Temporary bracing and a defined lift plan are essential, and the area under the lift is controlled. See commissioning and closeout for what the owner receives at the end.

Why a crane raises the building price

Crane capacity drives the frame weight. A small-capacity crane may add little to the building, while a large one can double the steel in the columns and require much larger footings. Runway length, span and class of service also matter, and a building designed for a heavy crane that will never be installed is an expensive mistake. We ask owners to separate present needs from future expansion and price a design that can be upgraded later.

Other cost items include a stiffer slab, dedicated electrical service for the crane, additional bracing, and a wider and taller structure than the same floor area would otherwise need. We present these as add-on items to the base building, so the owner can see exactly what the crane costs. The earlier we have the crane vendor's data, the sharper the number.

Send the crane data

Send the crane's capacity, span, class and wheel loads, and we will return the structural and foundation implications with a price range.

Common Questions

What information does the designer need about the crane?

Capacity, span, class of service, wheel loads and spacing, bumper forces, travel speeds and the manufacturer. Without those numbers the engineer must assume, and assumed values lead either to an oversized building or to a frame that cannot take the crane you buy.

Can a crane be added to an existing building?

Sometimes, but not often cheaply. The existing columns and foundations must be checked for the new loads, and adding runway beams usually means strengthening or adding columns. We assess the structure first and tell the owner whether a new bay is cheaper.

How tight are the tolerances on the runway?

Much tighter than ordinary steel. Rail gauge, elevation, and straightness are all controlled, usually within a small fraction of an inch. We use an independent survey and correct deviations before the crane vendor mobilizes.

Who should own the crane contract?

That depends on the owner. Some buy the crane directly and hand it to us for coordination, others include it in our scope. Either way, we need the crane vendor's drawings and installation requirements before we finish the design, and we want a single person at the vendor who answers questions.

Do we need a crane in the original building design?

Not necessarily, but it helps to plan for it. Designing columns and foundations that can take a future crane costs far less than retrofitting later. We price a provision for a crane so owners can decide.

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