Seattle #1, PDX 6th in nation for new high rises

chartcrnsBy Oregon Small Business Foundation,

If you want to know how the construction business is doing in your city – just look up. Look for the construction cranes. This year Seattle topped the list nationwide, with 58 construction cranes, 18 more than Los Angeles, more than New York and San Francisco combined, and twice as many as Chicago, Washington, D.C., or Portland. Portland, at 22 cranes, is one of the top cities for mid and high rise construction.

Seattle has 16 more cranes than in 2015, and the cranes are also in demand in surrounding cities, with 20 cranes on the east side. Some of the cranes are so close together that adjacent operators have to coordinate movements to avoid hitting each other.

All this construction means an eight month weight to get a crane in Seattle, about twice as long as normal. The cranes, which cost $15,000 to $55,000 a month, must be sent back to the supplier after each job for testing.
Most of the projects requiring construction cranes are apartments or condominiums, but there are also a few office projects and hotels. A crane could be required for buildings as low as seven stories, and some buildings require more than one crane.

Top Ten Crane Cities in the U.S. Summer 2016

1. Seattle – 58
2. Los Angeles – 40
3. Washington, D.C. – 29
4. New York – 28
5. Chicago – 26
6. San Francisco – 24
7. Portland – 22
8. Denver – 21
9. Boston – 14
10. Honolulu – 13


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