Crane index: data centre builders fight infrastructure projects for heavy cranes

Already a subscriber?Australia’s growing demand for data centres is pushing up costs for specialised cranes at twice the rate of ordinary commercial tower cranes, even as other sectors of construction plateau.

“If you build an apartment or an office the heaviest thing you might lift is 12 tons, whereas on this project we’re lifting a 60-ton generator, 60-ton beams,” Mr Deveson told. “It’s not a huge fleet in Australia of the type of cranes we use.”The total number of tower cranes across Australian skylines slipped to what consultancy RLB said was a still-buoyant 869. Residential cranes suffered the biggest single decline, from 553 nationally to 540.

The mismatch between housing and non-residential commercial and infrastructure work was clear, with cranes dedicated to data centre construction jumping by nine to 22, a new high. Cranes for mixed-use projects combining housing with retail or commercial space, increased by six to a new high of 87.Sydney had the most cranes, with 390, down from 401 six months earlier, as 172 cranes came down and 161 new cranes went up.

While projects turned over, the volume of commercial work has remained constant since the last crane count, with the number of non-residential cranes level at 329, lifting their proportion of the total to 38 per cent from 37 per cent.

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