A crane has a sole purpose, to lift something too heavy to be otherwise manoeuvred and to safely move it to another location or place it back when safe to do so. Whilst we tend to think of cranes as modern utilitarian equipment, such as our mobile hire fleet, cranes have been used throughout history for the same purpose that they are used for today. In ancient Greece, cranes were used to assist with the lifting of marble pillars for buildings. Shipyards have used cranes since the middle ages to safely manoeuvre cargo onto the decks of ships, a practice that is still very much in place in 2020.

In ancient times, Greek cranes were powered by simple winding ropes around winches that were pulled by either men or donkeys, however, the rise of the Roman Empire saw the more mechanised compound pulley systems come into use. In the middle ages pulleys combined with large wheels, spun by men walking inside, or animals turning a large winch by walking in circles. Although rudimentary in design, the lifting capacity of these early cranes was 1 – 5 metric tonnes.


Industrial Revolution and Crane Design

The Industrial Revolution saw the next evolution in crane design, both in power sources and in technology. In 1850 the Fairbairn crane was patented, with its innovative design the first to utilise a curved jib (or arm). The use of pulleys, both fixed and moveable, enabled the crane to lift weights more than 10x that of its predecessors. A working example of the Fairbairn crane is still used in the Bristol Harbour in the UK.

The next evolution of the crane was the powering of the mechanism via steam in the late 1800s, with electric-powered cranes being the most common form of crane power by the end of the 19th century.


Cranes in the World Wars

World War One saw the next development in crane design and application with Hans Liebherr’s tower crane used for the rapid reconstruction of bombed cities during the war. The key difference with this crane was the levering action, with the tower top acting as the fulcrum and the jib counterbalanced by a weight. The basics of this design is still seen on most building sites throughout the world. The average lifting capacity of this style of crane is 40 tonnes with the Liebherr Group, Liebherr LTM 11200-9.1 garnering the title of the most powerful mobile crane ever built with a lift capacity of 1200 tonnes.


Cranes are now used in many different applications throughout the world, and even beyond to the International Space Station, making cranes truly a universal piece of machinery.

Cranes in Shipping
Cranes are commonly used for shipping to remove and replace containers and other cargo onto ships. Whilst great strength is needed for this momentous task, incredible precision from the machinery and the operator is required to ensure that the container ships are loaded with accuracy and efficiency. With up to 24000 containers on vessels that are often unloaded and reloaded by cranes within 72 hours, this is a significant contribution to global commerce.

Cranes in Construction
Cranes are used for all manner of reasons on the construction site; from domestic residential homesite to large scale infrastructure building projects. It is often said that a city that has multiple cranes on the horizon has a healthy, growing economy. Even the precision uses of cranes such as tree removal or glass placement, makes construction more manageable, more time-efficient, and cost-effective.

For more information about cranes, crane hire and the type of crane needed for your job, contact the team at Lindores Mobile Cranes for expert advice and a passion for all things crane related.