The Benefits Of Crane Hire For Your Large Events

As we make our way forwards into summer, the unprecedented events of the last 18 months are slowly being brought under control. Although the risk remains, and the virus is still very much with us, the government is finally reducing most restrictions on all kinds of outdoor events.

For large sports stadiums up and down the country expecting an increase in spectator numbers, this means removing cordons from certain seating areas, increasing staff numbers, stocking up on extra food and drink, and opening up the turnstiles.

The Complexities of Large Event Planning

For event planning of outdoor music get-togethers and various festivals, the process is far more complex and time-consuming. Often held in the countryside, construction crews will be on site days or even weeks before the first music fan arrives, setting up all the stages, large screens, lighting gantries, bars, washrooms, first-aid posts, and portable toilet facilities. It means unlocking storage areas, checking and servicing equipment, contacting sub-contract businesses, organising site staff, and arranging transportation of equipment to the venue. It also means contacting companies like ourselves.

Throughout the summer months (and occasionally through the winter) Emerson Cranes are regularly contacted with a view to supplying one (or more) of our mobile cranes and operators, to assist in the heavy lifting during event site construction.

Large event planning is a complex operation, and generally a mix of event planners working with landowners many months before the festival date. A whole range of sub-contract specialist suppliers of generators, lighting, sound and vision equipment, hospitality equipment, portable-loos and various portable buildings, gantries, stages and walkways have to be contacted, and fixed site delivery times arranged.

Much of this equipment will arrive on hi-abs owned by the equipment supplier, and off-loaded in an area designated by the organiser. Other materials arrive on a deliver-to-site basis, and have to be lifted and craned into place as-and-when, by one of our onsite mobile cranes.

For reasons best known to a higher authority, in the UK, large event planning for all types of outdoor events has a knack of attracting the worst of the British weather. Already soft ground becomes waterlogged and more unstable for many crane uses. In these situations, for safety’s sake, we are often called on to supply one of our all-terrain mobile cranes, where hi-ab crane use would cause lifting stability issues. We are also often contracted by the event planner, to collect equipment and materials direct from the supplier, and transport it to site.

The show must go on

Any festivals held this year are likely to attract visitors in unprecedented numbers. Many people are choosing staycations, rather than jetting off to the sun, and the younger generation has had to cope with extraordinary day to day restrictions on their social lives. With constraints being relaxed, they are going to want to kick off the shackles and party, and what better way to do it than at a busy music festival.

If you’re planning an outdoor festival of any type, don’t let the weather interfere with your timeline. At Emerson Cranes we have a large fleet of cranes suitable for working safely on all types of terrain. From static to mobile cranes, to smaller city cranes, tracked cranes and all-terrain cranes, we have the vehicle to help ensure all those months of planning are not thrown into disarray by the good-old British weather.

There is also an extra bonus when restrictions are being lifted, but where caution is the name of the game when it comes to minimising the risk of further virus infection. Using a crane for the heavy lifting, means fewer crew members are required to move something into position. Whether it’s holding up a gantry to be bolted together or lowering sections of a stage into place, using a crane means just a few suitably distanced staff are needed to guide the section into position prior to being secured.

If you would like more information on crane uses for festival site preparation, or how we can assist with festival site construction, please call, and ask to speak to one of our fleet operations managers.