Bridge Cranes Solutions for Low-Headroom

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When there is ample overhead space, our floor-mounted bridge cranes have this appearance:

This typical crane has slant trusses and headers at the top, followed by the runways, the bridge and the hoist. This is the most efficient arrangement, both for minimizing weight and cost.

But very often the project engineer encounters the classic “low-headroom problem” with bridge cranes: an overhead obstruction restricts the height of the crane, but a load has to be lifted to a maximum height.

How Givens Engineering Designs Low-Headroom Bridge Cranes

The Slant Truss was a breakthrough development in the design of bridge cranes, as it added massively to the strength of a rail, while adding only minimal weight. But some headroom is added by the Slant Truss.

Givens has developed a variety of methods of addressing the low-headroom issue.

The Rail-on-Rail Reinforcement

Givens has developed a “Rail-on-Rail” reinforcement as an alternative to the Slant Truss for bridge cranes. It is heavier and more expensive than the Slant Truss, but has a relatively low-profile.

The Rail-on-Rail reinforcement consists of the main rail, for example a C2000, plus a rail of one size smaller (here, a C1000 rail) bolted together.

Rail-on-Rail Bridge Crane Capacities

Rail-on-Rail arrangements are designated by these numbers and capacities, where RRC refers to rail-on-rail clamps:

• C250-RRC 250kg capacity
• C500-RRC 500kg capacity
• C1000-RRC 1000kg capacity
• C2000-RRC 2000kg capacity

Raised End Trucks

Another method of gaining headroom when installing a bridge crane is with raised end trucks. In this case, we have developed end trucks that bring the bridge up to the same level as the runways. A disadvantage of this type of end truck is that the travel of the hoist along the bridge is now restricted to a distance between runways only.

Raised End Trucks Capacities

This type of end truck is designated ETR or End Truck Raised and is available in these capacities:

• 250-ETR 250kg capacity
• C500-ETR 500kg capacity
• C1000-ETR 1000kg capacity
• C2000-ETR 2000kg capacity

Raised Carriage Design

The third level of design for low-headroom bridge cranes is the raised carriage, which brings the hoist or balancer up between 2 bridges. The drawback of this design when installing a bridge crane is that the extra weight of a second bridge and the weight of the carriage itself must be pulled about by the operator. But in cases where low-headroom is a problem, the raised carriage works well.

Offering Your Solution to Low-Headroom Lifts

If you are wondering how to solve your low-headroom problem, contact us today for a customized solution! Our team of engineers have the experience and the technology to find the best outcome for your application.