Every crane building starts with one number: the hook capacity the owner needs on the worst day of the year. A shop that lifts a pump skid once a month has a different building from a fabrication floor that lifts steel all day, and the difference shows up in the columns, the runway beams, the foundations and the cost. We build overhead bridge crane buildings for owners in the oilfield, power and process trades who need to move heavy things inside a roof.
Natrona County runs on heavy equipment. The Casper refinery at 5700 East Highway 20-26 is listed at 30,000 barrels per day, the Dave Johnston Power Plant at Glenrock is a large coal-fired generating station owned by PacifiCorp, and the Salt Creek Oil Field has produced oil since the Dutch No. 1 gusher in 1908. Plants like these lean on shops that can lift engines, valves, rotors and pump casings, and a yard that serves them needs the same capability. Turnaround season is when the shops get tested, and a crane that is down for a week during a turnaround costs a customer more than the crane did.
Most of our crane buildings are steel frames with dedicated runway columns, and the work is a close cousin of structural steel erection and of manufacturing facility construction. If the building is a production plant, our manufacturing plant page describes how crane coverage is laid out across the floor.
A crane building has two structures in one. The building frame carries roof, wall and snow loads, and the crane system carries vertical wheel loads, lateral thrust and longitudinal braking forces. In many buildings we give the crane its own columns, so a crane never has to push on a wall. We set the runway beams, install rails and stops, and coordinate the crane supplier's equipment and electrification.
The scope also includes the less obvious parts: haunched or thickened footings under crane columns, a heavier slab where the crane is used with floor loads, and clearances for the hook, the trolley and any overhead obstruction such as light fixtures or sprinkler piping. Getting those clearances wrong is an expensive mistake to fix after the steel is up. We draw the hook envelope on the section before we release steel, and we ask the electrician and the fire protection contractor to coordinate against it. Offices and support space beside the crane bay are part of our commercial construction work.
The two questions the crane vendor will ask are capacity and duty cycle. A light-duty crane that lifts occasionally is a different animal from one that runs several shifts. We ask for both before we draw anything, and we ask what the owner might lift in ten years. Building a runway for a 10-ton crane and later wanting 20 tons means rebuilding the runway, so it is cheaper to size it with margin now.
We also ask about the lifting envelope: how wide the bay is, how high the hook must go, and whether two cranes will share the runway. A wider bay needs a longer crane girder and a deeper runway beam, and a building in a place that sees heavy snow and wind needs the structure to handle both at once. Owners in Glenrock or Edgerton near the oilfield tend to weigh price against future capacity, and we show the cost of each.
Crane work is some of the most dangerous on a construction site. We follow lift plans, certified rigging, designated signalers and exclusion zones, and we do not pick over occupied space. When we install the crane inside a building that is already operating, we coordinate shutdowns with the owner, so people are not under a load.
After installation, the crane must be tested and certified before use. We schedule that as its own milestone, with the crane supplier present, and we hand the owner the load test records and operating manuals. For owners who rely on the crane during a refinery or plant turnaround, we recommend a preventive maintenance contract with the supplier from day one.
The City of Casper lists the 2024 International Codes with amendments in Title 15, and commercial permits there often require engineered drawings and structural calculations. For a crane building, the engineer must combine crane loads with snow, wind and frost, and the City's climatic criteria list a 115 mph 3-second gust at exposure C for dwellings and a 3 foot frost line, with severe weathering. The engineer derives the actual building values from the code and the city's published guidance.
The crane itself follows its own standards, and the manufacturer provides wheel loads and clearances. We make sure those are in the permit set. Outside the city, Wyoming leaves code adoption to counties and towns, so we check the edition with the local authority first.
The crane is a long-lead item, and so is the steel for the runway. We order both early. Foundations come first, with anchor bolts set to a surveyed template. Steel follows, then the runway beams and rails, then the crane delivery and installation, then testing.
Casper winters make the sequence tight. We want the runway beams and the roof on before the worst weather, because setting a crane in sub-freezing wind is slower and riskier. We tell owners early if a date depends on a crane that is still in a vendor's queue, and we sequence work around the owner's manufacturing operations if the building is an addition to a live plant.
Send us the heaviest lift, the bay width and how many shifts the crane will run. We will return a frame and runway concept, a long-lead list and a schedule that fits your turnaround calendar.
Sometimes. If the building was designed with enough column strength and foundation capacity, a runway can be added. Often the existing columns cannot take the load, and new crane columns are needed. We will evaluate the building before we recommend a path.
The runway steel, heavier columns, deeper footings and the crane itself all add cost. How much depends on capacity and span. We separate those costs in the estimate so you can see what each ton of capacity buys.
The crane supplier designs and installs the crane. We build the building and runway, coordinate the installation and handle the schedule. Load testing is shared among the supplier, the engineer and the owner.
Turnaround season brings heavy demand for shop space and equipment around the refinery area. We plan around the owner's dates and avoid placing a critical lift in the middle of a customer's shutdown window.
Yes. We take work around Natrona and Converse counties, from Glenrock to the Salt Creek field. Adopted codes and design loads vary by jurisdiction, so we confirm them before we price.