Crane Operator Does The Heavy Lifting In New Construction

There is no more visible sign of Madison's construction boom than the cranes that dot the city's skyline.

The man behind some of those massive machines over the decades has been Scott Sands, who spent 37 years as a crane operator in the Madison area.

"I build buildings," says Sands, of Sun Prairie, a crane operator at Ideal Crane Rentals, 4349 Acker Road.

Scott Sands says the biggest challenges for cranes are wind and weather.

AMBER ARNOLD, COUNTRY MEETING

Sands started working at Ideal at age 15 as a part-time gardener's assistant while studying carpentry and renovation at Madison Area Technical College. He then took over as the company's semi-trailer driver until Ideal encouraged him to train as a crane operator.

Founded in 1973, Ideal rents cranes to customers across the state. Unlike a pressure washer or cultivator, when a crane is rented it often comes with an operator due to the complexity and training required. Ideal has a staff of about 50 crane operators, says Christine Chose, commercial director for Ideal Crane.

At first glance, operating a crane seems like a simple task. He picked up something and dropped it. However, crane operators often work in confined spaces and are responsible for the safety of other vehicles and people in the area.

Crane operators must receive special training and be responsible for the safety of the equipment and the workers around them.

AMBER ARNOLD, COUNTRY MEETING

"A lot of times you can't see what you're doing," Sands says, adding that usually someone on top of the structure he's building tells him over the radio where to move the crane hooks, which are used to remove various materials from His construction. : very light as wall panels. "I saw the crane and drove it from the ground."

The crane Sands uses is not equipped with a camera at the end of the boom.

Your biggest challenge as a crane operator is wind and weather. There may also be a long wait for construction materials due to global supply chain disruptions in the COVID era.

But Sands said it was helpful to walk around town and know that he had helped build some of the buildings needed by the community and businesses in the area.

Thus, Sands can be seen using cranes on various construction projects in Dane County, such as the Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals development in Verona or the Cabela's sporting goods store in Sun Prairie, which added about 10,500 square feet of marine study.

"It's a big responsibility," Sands said of his job. "Always do something different."

Reynolds Rigging & Crane and Kraemer of North America have replaced a 123-year-old rail bridge over the Yahara River. The team replaced the 95-tonne bridge with a new one over an extremely long period of time to limit downtime for the train.