If you are looking for an effective and powerful fixed lifting solution for your workplace, and want to make sure that it offers the best combination of ability and safety, then installing a bridge crane is probably the best solution available to you. A Bridge crane combines the power of a portable gantry system with the greater stability and safety offered by a fixed unit, and is ideal for larger workspaces where the main requirement for material handling is in a relatively small part of the whole.

With a Bridge crane, you will typically be slightly restricted in terms of the area that the crane can serve, although with clever planning, and the flexible components available from most companies, you will be able to custom design and build a system that is exactly tailored to your particular needs, and will offer you the scalability allows it to grow with your exact business goals.

A bridge crane consists of a large fixed support frame that extends over the entire area that will be accessible to the crane. This framework has two beams suspended from it that act as the rails along which the lifting beam can move. It is important for this whole structure to be fitted most securely, as otherwise the ability of the crane to perform will be compromised, and the whole unit will be unsafe.

Once the main frame has been fitted and completely tested, the main beam of the bridge crane needs to be lifted onto the rails and fitted into place. This will form an H shape, and has the actual pulley and other lifting equipment fitted onto a moving trolley that can roll along the beam to give lateral flexibility to the whole unit. Once all the pieces have been fitted into place, the crane will be able to pick up an item from any where under its frame, and then lift the object up, and move it both vertically and laterally to wherever it is required.

The capacity of the bridge crane will depend to a certain extent on the exact specifications that you set out when designing and building the frame, but most units are capable of lifting up to 2,000 pounds. You will be able to design a unit of up to 30 feet in length with a maximum width of 20 feet, although smaller applications from 20 feet by 10 feet are also available.

One of the most important aspects of the design of a bridge crane is that it requires no power in order to operate. The whole movement can be controlled from the ground simply by manipulating the object hanging from the beam in order to move it to the correct position, whereupon it can be lowered into place.

Bridge Cranes are entirely modular in their design and construction, so that if your requirements change, or you move to a new location, it is possible to dismantle your existing unit, and with the addition of a few new parts, rebuild it either larger or smaller in a new location very simply.