Question: Analyze the effectiveness of using a tower crane or a mobile crane for a water treatment plant project. The project team has decided that the best approach for placing concrete on the project would be pumping. The complexity of the concrete and formwork and the accessibility issues to many portions of the project made pumping a better alternative than hook and bucket. This decision being made, the team moved on to how it would be best to transport the forms and rebar about the cramped job site. Much of the work would require working inside sedimentation facilities and tanks where cranes would clearly be needed.

The two company vice presidents discussed the use of crawler cranes for the project. Using this type of crane would require that the work start in one area and proceed to the outside of the project. This would dictate a very sequential project. One of the vice presidents saw this project as one for which a tower crane might be the appropriate crane alternative. . It was found that the crawler cranes were the cheaper alternative considering equipment cost; however, phase construction would be necessary for access reasons. This would mean that only certain areas of the project could be worked at any given time, while with the tower crane it would be possible to build the entire project simultaneously. Research the issues further and present your crane selection with supporting reasons.