Duke Tower Kitchener | 39 fl | completed

[Spokes]

Saw them working on the crane today.  Looking at all the other sites today, I must say this crane is ugly, lol

It looks like a leftover from the 1980s

Maybe it is 

[jgsz]

2019-11-30

The crane has not been working this week.  Several days ago they brought in a mobile crane to hoist rebar to the top.  They haven't worked on the crane for most of the week but they're out there today trying to fix whatever is wrong.

   

   

[ZEBuilder]

The crane has not been working this week.  Several days ago they brought in a mobile crane to hoist rebar to the top.  They haven't worked on the crane for most of the week but they're out there today trying to fix whatever is wrong.

that's not a good sign at all, they've fixed it twice already and they are only starting the second floor. i honestly think that they're going to have to do something bigger regarding this crane instead of fixing it every month or so. (new jib maybe?)

[ijmorlan]

The crane has not been working this week.  Several days ago they brought in a mobile crane to hoist rebar to the top.  They haven't worked on the crane for most of the week but they're out there today trying to fix whatever is wrong.

that's not a good sign at all, they've fixed it twice already and they are only starting the second floor. i honestly think that they're going to have to do something bigger regarding this crane instead of fixing it every month or so. (new jib maybe?)

I wonder what specifically is going wrong?

It seems to me that most of the components are just large pieces of steel which should be OK indefinitely unless they rust or develop cracks (either of which would presumably require a replacement of the affected pieces). So I would guess that the age of the whole crane doesn’t really matter; over time all the mechanical and electrical components can be replaced.

[ZEBuilder]

that's not a good sign at all, they've fixed it twice already and they are only starting the second floor. i honestly think that they're going to have to do something bigger regarding this crane instead of fixing it every month or so. (new jib maybe?)

I wonder what specifically is going wrong?

It seems to me that most of the components are just large pieces of steel which should be OK indefinitely unless they rust or develop cracks (either of which would presumably require a replacement of the affected pieces). So I would guess that the age of the whole crane doesn’t really matter; over time all the mechanical and electrical components can be replaced.

it seems to have something to do with the mechanical components. the last time it had something to do with the winch and the hook this time it is the same. if they need to replace that it is kind of hard to replace that stuff up in the air.

[jgsz]

They used a mobile crane this morning to fix a problem on the crane.  I wonder what they’ll do when the crane is higher and it needs to be repaired and the mobile crane doesn’t reach that high.

[ZEBuilder]

They used a mobile crane this morning to fix a problem on the crane.  I wonder what they’ll do when the crane is higher and it needs to be repaired and the mobile crane doesn’t reach that high.

The bigger the crane(longer boom)= a bigger rental price. The more delays you have the more your paying for labour ad they would just be sitting around. These things cost money and add delays. So would it not be cheaper to take down the old crane and install a new one.

[Rainrider22]

I wonder if there is a clause written in the rental contract that the lessor has to absorb penalty costs of the equipment breaks down for extended periods of time. Also I would think that if the crance needed to be replaced the rental company would have to eat that.

[Bjays93]

They used a mobile crane this morning to fix a problem on the crane.  I wonder what they’ll do when the crane is higher and it needs to be repaired and the mobile crane doesn’t reach that high.

The bigger the crane(longer boom)= a bigger rental price. The more delays you have the more your paying for labour ad they would just be sitting around. These things cost money and add delays. So would it not be cheaper to take down the old crane and install a new one.

I'd have to agree. 39 stories is not a short building. If you're up 100m+ crane problems are not ideal. If there is a consistent issue they should just throw up a new crane. 

When I was by here a few days ago the crane looked noticeably old and rickety (not that age is necessarily the problem here but still)

[KevinL]

So I would guess that the age of the whole crane doesn’t really matter; over time all the mechanical and electrical components can be replaced.

A true Ship of Theseus!

[jeffster]

So I would guess that the age of the whole crane doesn’t really matter; over time all the mechanical and electrical components can be replaced.

A true Ship of Theseus!

I never knew that there was an expression to convey that thought! Your English skills are top notch!

[Square]

They should just move this crane to the King Cameron development. It sure doesn't look like they need a working crane on that site.

[Lens]

It's this crane rented? If so what company (don't see a name on it)? I assumed they found it in a scrap yard somewhere...

[ZEBuilder]

It's this crane rented? If so what company (don't see a name on it)?  I assumed they found it in a scrap yard somewhere...

if you look on the blue part of the crane in the last pictures that JGSZ posted it says dominion if that helps at all.

[robdrimmie]

I wonder if there is a clause written in the rental contract that the lessor has to absorb penalty costs of the equipment breaks down for extended periods of time. Also I would think that if the crance needed to be replaced the rental company would have to eat that.

I have a small amount of experience working with construction rental equipment companies. Only a few months at a startup a few years back, so this is not an area I have extensive knowledge of. Part of my work there involved working with and modifying the system used to negotiate and sign contracts though, so I saw a lot of them.

In the case of equipment like excavators, backhoes and whatnot, those kind of liability clauses are very common, to the point where I'd say they are boilerplate except that specifics of each project often need to be calculated. For something like a pick up truck with a plow up front there are probably standard terms but for something like a crane it would likely be heavily customized.

A large part of the reason to rent this sort of equipment is specifically to push that liability for breakdowns affecting the schedule onto a different company. I think of it as being similar to tech companies who use cloud computing instead of their own data centre.