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5 International/11 Construction Specialty Conference

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5 International/11 Conférence spécialisée sur la construction

Vancouver, British Columbia

June 8 to June 10, 2015 / 8 juin au 10 juin 2015

A RAPID LIFT STUDY GENERATION SYSTEM FOR HEAVY

INDUSTRIAL PROJECTS

Brian D. Ofrim1,4, Zhen Lei2, Tarequl Hasan2, Mohamed Al-Hussein2, and Ahmed
Bouferguene3
1
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Canada
2
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Canada
3
Campus Saint-Jean, University of Alberta, Canada
4
[email protected]

Abstract: The process of creating mobile crane lift studies for heavy industrial projects can be time-
consuming and tedious. A large portion of the lift studies required for such projects involve modules that
are prefabricated and transported to the site. Composing these lift studies currently requires a
considerable amount of time and manual work. Due to the complex nature of these projects the lift studies
also often require significant revisions to accommodate changes to the initial plans. This paper introduces
a rapid lift study generation program to assist in the planning stage by expediting the drafting process.
The program utilizes Autodesk’s AutoCAD, which is one of the most widely used drafting software
applications in North America. A custom plug-in to AutoCAD written in the Visual Basic programming
language is used to create the graphic portion of the lift study. A separate Windows Form application is
used to produce a table of the crane and lift information, such as lifting capacity, ground bearing pressure
calculations, and mat design. This application is supported by a database of specifications for various
crawler cranes and configurations as well as capacity information. The application allows the user to input
information such as the module’s weight, rigging weight, and lift radius in order to obtain a table of
relevant information for each lift. This rapid lift study generation program has been tested for validation on
a heavy industrial project for which the lift studies had already been prepared by NCSG Crane & Heavy
Haul Services using the traditional method.

1 INTRODUCTION

In Alberta, Canada, mobile cranes are frequently used in heavy industrial projects to erect modules that
are prefabricated in a controlled environment and then shipped to site. (This offsite construction process
is efficient and consumes less waste in general.) In order to achieve a successful lifting process,
extensive planning is needed and lift studies are required for each individual lift. Lift studies contain
detailed drawings of the crane picking the modules off of the delivery trucks, as well as drawings of the
crane placing each module at its final destination. These drawings need to be dimensioned to ensure that
the crane and module are placed in their intended locations. Supportive engineering information and
calculations are also necessary, such as: (i) the crane configuration; (ii) the length of the boom; (iii) the
percent of the crane’s capacity used for the lift, and (iv) the ground bearing pressure (GBP) and mat
pressure. However, due to the complicated planning process, lift study requires much preparation time
and is error-prone. In addition, any change to the site or project will lead to re-planning and re-design.
The objective of the system described in this paper is to accelerate the process of creating these lift

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studies by programming the designing algorithms into computer applications. The system involves two
main components, one that handles the graphics and one that handles the calculations and table of
information. The graphical component is achieved using a plug-in to AutoCAD, which aids with the
insertion of transport trucks, modules, rigging, mats, and cranes as well as with dimensioning. The
calculations and tables are made by means of a Windows Form application called Smart Lift Planner.
This two-program system improves upon the traditional methods of drafting by making it faster and more
user-friendly. In previous crane-related research, automation has been the focus in engineering planning
and design; this scholarship has included (i) automatic crane selection and positioning (Hanna and
Lotfallah 1999; Huang et al. 2011; Safouhi et al. 2011; Wu et al. 2011; Lien et al. 2014); utilizing 3D
visualization to simulate crane operations (Al-Hussein et al. 2006; Tantisevi et al. 2009; Lin et al. 2012;
Hasan et al. 2013); and lift path planning with the assistance of computer technology (Chang et al. 2012;
Zhang and Hammad 2012; Juang et al. 2013; Lei et al. 2013a and 2013b; Olearczyk et al. 2014).
However, there are few software applications/systems in the market that can be directly used for heavy lift
planning. In Alberta, most large-scale construction companies currently employ drafting personnel that
create the graphical portion of lift studies using drafting software such as AutoCAD. Once the site layout
has been prepared and the locations of modules, cranes, and transport trucks have been determined, the
graphic portion of the lift study must be prepared. To do so the draftsperson must manually insert the
transport truck into the drawing, orient it correctly, place the module in the correct position on top of the
truck, manually insert the rigging on top of the module, place the crane in its predetermined location,
orient the tracks in the right direction, rotate the crane body such that it is facing the module, raise or
lower the boom so that the hook block is on top of the pick point, draw a lift line, insert a layout tab,
generate the correct view ports, and dimension both the plan and elevation views. Then when it comes
time for the set-point drawing to be created, the draftsperson is required to move the module to its set
position, rotate it to the correct angle, reposition the rigging in a similar fashion, rotate the crane body,
raise or lower the boom, delete the old lift line and draw a new one, delete the old dimensions, and create
new dimensions. It is easy to see that this process is tedious and time-consuming. Therefore a level of
automation to make the process faster and more efficient would prove to be extremely valuable.

2 AUTOMATED LIFT STUDY GENERATION

The graphical component of the system is handled by an AutoCAD (AutoDesk 2015) plug-in developed in
the Visual Basic programming language (Microsoft 2015) at the University of Alberta. The primary use of
this plug-in is to aid in the insertion of blocks—objects created from AutoCAD drawings that can be
inserted into other drawings. The blocks used by the program have been previously created specifically
for the project used to test the program. (These blocks must be saved as individual .dwg files in a specific
location so that the program can properly insert them.) Various measurements of the block must be
carried out and entered into the spreadsheets from which the program retrieves data. The plug-in is
designed to be used after the user has created and inserted the site layout into AutoCAD’s model space.

2.1 Step 1: Crane Matting insertion

The user selects the insert button from a custom toolbar developed for the program. They then specify
where they would like to place the mat—either on screen or by entering coordinates into the command
line. Options are then given for the insertion angle. For the purpose of selecting the insertion point and
angle by moving the cursor and clicking in the 3D environment, the program supports what is known as
jigging. In this process, the object being inserted will follow the user’s cursor around the 3D environment
and its position will become fixed when the user clicks the mouse. Jigging provides the user with a
visualization of the block before its insertion point has been fixed in order to more closely represent how
the block will appear in the drawing. This provides an efficient method for determining where to place
blocks in relation to existing objects in the drawing. Once a mat has been inserted, if the user requires
additional matting they can simply specify a location in relation to the previously placed mat (front, back,
left or right). A mat will be automatically inserted in the specified direction and at the same angle as the
previous mat.

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2.2 Step 2: Transport Truck/Module Insertion

In this step the user first selects the insertion button from the custom toolbar. A prompt will then appear
which will allow the user to directly insert a module or to first insert a transport truck into the drawing. Next
the option is presented for the user to specify an insertion point either by clicking a point in the model
space (jigging supported) or by entering coordinates into the command line. For inserting a module, the
insertion point is at ground level directly below the southwest rigging attachment point. For inserting a
transport truck the insertion point is located at ground level directly below the trailer hitch. Similar options
are then given for the insertion angle. The required module is then selected from a project specific list.
This list contains relevant information such as module dimensions and weight, number of cranes
necessary for lifting, number of rigging attachment points, rigging height, and locations of pick points in
relation to the insertion point. Finally either the user selects where the module is to be placed or it is
automatically placed on a previously inserted truck trailer.

2.3 Step 3: Rigging Insertion

After the module has been inserted the user selects the “insert rigging” option, and the rigging (previously
designed and saved as a block) necessary to lift the module will be automatically placed on top of it. The
automatic rigging placement is performed by inserting the rigging at the same (x,y) coordinates as the
module insertion point but at the elevation of the rigging attachment point, which has been measured and
G
entered into a spreadsheet. This displacement is shown in Equation [1] as position vector R RIG relative to
the origin, where M X , M Y, and M Z are the insertion points of the module and H M is the height of the
module. The block is then rotated about the z-axis to match the angle of the rigging.

[1]

2.4 Step 4: Crane Insertion

Now that the module and rigging are in place the user selects a crane to insert. (Cranes available in the
current program are the Demag CC2800 and the Manitowoc18000; however, the program could easily be
expanded to accommodate other similar cranes.) The user is then prompted to select the desired boom
length from a list of crane configurations. Next, the maximum radius must be specified. The program
calculates the maximum radius for which the top of the boom will be above the top of the rigging. This
value is used as the default maximum radius but can be easily overridden. It is recommended that the
second component of the program (Smart Lift Planner) be used when determining this value, as it
references the tables supplied by the crane manufacturer in order to determine the maximum radius for a
given load. The next prompt provides the user with various options for inserting the crane. These options
include:

• Side1/Side: Places the crane perpendicular to the module at a user-defined radius and elevation.
• Specify: Allows the user to either click a point on the screen on which to place the crane or specify
the location by entering coordinates. Similar options are given for the crane’s track angle. This
method supports jigging.
• Distance Direction: The user enters the location in polar coordinates (radius and angle) relative to the
module’s center. Options for track angle are also given.
• Previous Location: This option is available if a crane has previously been inserted and will place the
crane in the same location as the previous crane.

While these options are given temporary indicators appearing in the model space that show the locations
of sides 1 and 2, as well as circles that show the minimum and maximum allowable radii, these indicators
automatically disappear once the crane has been inserted. For all of the options the crane body and
boom are automatically configured such that the crane hook will be on the rigging pick point (hook point).
The hook point is described using 3D coordinates in Equation [2] by the module’s insertion point
(M X ,M Y ,M Z ), the distance in the x-y plane from the module’s insertion point to the hook point (MH D ), the
module’s insertion angle (θ M ), the angle in the x-y plane from the module’s side to the hook point with the

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vertex being the module’s insertion point (θ MH ), the height of the module (H M ), and the height of the
rigging (H RIG ). Figure 1 provides a labelled plan and dimension views of the module and rigging. The
equations the program uses to automate the crane orientation process are outlined below. In all cases the
insertion point for a crane is located at ground level directly below the crane’s pivot point (Piv X ,Piv Y ,Gnd),
shown in the position vector relative to the origin in Equation [8]. This is the position at which the crane
track is to be inserted. The crane body is then inserted directly over the track at the position described by
the position vector in Equation [9], where Elev BODY is the elevation of the insertion point of the crane body
relative to the ground. Next the crane body is rotated in the x-y plane by the angle θ BODY (Equation [5])
relative to the positive x-axis. The boom is then inserted at the position described by the position vector in
Equation [10], rotated in the x-y plane by the same angle as the crane body (θ BODY ), and finally rotated in
the z dimension relative to the x-y plane by an angle of θ BOOM (Equation [7]). In Equation [7] the variable,
r, represents the distance from the pivot point to the hook point in the x-y plane (i.e., the lifting radius),
L BOOM is the length of the boom, and O BOOM is the boom’s offset from the pivot point in the x-y plane. With
everything in position the program also automatically draws a vertical line from the crane’s boom head to
the hook block, representing the load line.

[2] Hp = (M X + MH D • cos(θ M + θ MH ), M Y + MH D •sin(θ M + θ MH ), M Z + H M + H RIG )

[3] ΔX = Hp X − Piv X

[4] ΔY = Hp Y − Piv Y

[5] θ BODY = arctan(DY/DX) (Angle in x-y plane relative to positive x-axis)

[6] r = ΔX 2 + ΔY 2

[7] θ BOOM = arccos((r − O BOOM )/L BOOM ) (Angle in z dimension relative to x-y plane)
G
[8] R TRACK = Piv X ,Piv Y , Gnd

G
[9] R BODY = Piv X , Piv Y , Gnd + Elev BODY

G
[10] R BOOM = Piv X + O BOOM • cos(θ BODY ), Piv Y + O BOOM • sin(θ BODY ), Gnd + ElevBOOM

Figure 1: Labelled plan and elevation views of the module and rigging

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2.5 Dimensioning and Lift Study Layout

An available feature of the program can automatically create a plan view dimension for the lift study. The
program generates radial dimensions for the lift radius, tail-swing radius, and super-lift radius. It also
creates both horizontal and vertical dimensions from the crane to the pick point. The user can use the
dimension grips to arrange the dimensions as they see fit. The dimensions are placed on a layer, called
PlanDimension, that the program creates. Once the user is satisfied with the drawing, another function
from the custom toolbar can automatically insert a lift study layout into paper space. When this option is
selected a command line prompt appears asking the user if the layout is for the final or initial position
(pick point or set point). These layouts contain viewports for a plan view, an elevation view, and an
additional custom view. The user then creates the elevation dimensions on the layout with a pre-made
dimension style on a layer, called ElevationDimension, created by the program. Finally, the user turns off
the PlanDimension layer in both the elevation and the custom viewports in order to find a custom view
they are satisfied with. The graphical component of the pick point lift study is now complete. An example
is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Completed lift study graphics

2.6 Module Movement Options

Now that the pick point lift study is complete, the crane and module can be manipulated. These options,
available on the custom toolbar, include lifting, straightening, swinging, and rotating the module, as well
as raising or lowering the boom to move the module backwards or forwards (see Figure 3). The crane will
automatically respond to these operations by orienting itself in the correct fashion. Another available
option is to simply choose the set point, which will remove the module from its pick position and allow the
user to manually select the module’s set point and set angle. Again the crane will automatically change
orientations to accommodate this (see Figure 4). The user can then create a set point lift study layout in
much the same way as with the pick point.

Figure 3: Module and boom manipulations

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 Figure 4: Set point option

3 SMART LIFT PLANNER

The Smart Lift Planner (SLP) is a Windows Form application designed to aid in planning and calculations
necessary for lift studies. It accomplishes this through use the combined use of databases and user
inputs such as module weight, lifting radius, and matting type. Several databases of technical data are
constructed in order to minimize the need to sift through data tables to obtain information. These include
a crawler crane database, a capacity database, and a rigging database. The crawler crane database
contains hundreds of unique crane configurations, each with 45 parameters including weights,
dimensions, and lift form. The capacity database contains the capacities at different radii for many of the
configurations. The rigging database contains the specifications for hundreds of shackles, slings,
spreader bars, and turnbuckles. The SLP can be used to determine maximum lift radius, percent
capacity, total weight, ground bearing pressure, mat pressure, and matting necessary, among other
things. Further details pertaining to the SLP are provided below.

3.1 Crane Info Page and Lift Design Page

Dropdown menus allow the user to select the crane manufacturer and the crane model they require.
Once these selections have been made a data grid view appears, where the user can scroll through and
select the configuration that will meet the specific needs of the project. Crane Info Page 1 then
automatically displays information such as weights, lift form, and boom length. It also brings up the
capacity table for the chosen crane, which shows how the lifting capacity varies with radius. A hook block
table is also available for the user to select a hook block. The dimensions of the chosen crane are
automatically displayed on Crane Info Page 2 (see Figure 5). Now moving to the lift design page the user
inputs the weights of the module, rigging, and other relevant components. The program then calculates
the total weight and checks the capacity chart to provide the user with a range of radii acceptable for
lifting modules with the selected crane. The user then inputs the radius for the current lift, and the
program outputs the maximum capacity at that radius and the percentage of the maximum capacity that
the lift requires.

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 Figure 5: Labelled screen capture of crane info page 1

3.2 Ground Bearing Pressure Page

After the capacity has been determined the ground bearing pressure must be calculated. All of the
information needed for this calculation is already available, so the user simply needs to click “calculate
GBP”. The required information is retrieved from the database entries for the selected crane, as well as
from the lift design page where information has been inputted by the user. By default these values are
used in GBP calculations; however, they can be manually overridden if need be. The program also
generates a chart that displays the GBP on each side of the crawler as a function of the boom angle. The
values given are the maximum pressures on the front boom side, rear boom side, front counter weight
side, rear counterweight side, and the crane body angle that gives these maximum pressures. If the GBP
at a specific crane body angle is required, then that angle can be specified and the program will give the
corresponding pressure values. A screen capture of the ground bearing pressure page can be seen in
Figure 6.

Figure 6: Labelled screen capture of ground bearing pressure page

3.3 Mat Design Page

GBP information is automatically passed to the Mat Design page. The user is prompted to input the
allowable soil bearing capacity for the project site, the number of timbers forming the mat, number of

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layers of mats, and sectional dimensions of the mat, and to choose the type of wood for the mats. The
program then verifies if the stresses induced by the lift are within the allowable limit. If the allowable limit
is exceeded then an error message is displayed along with a message containing suggestions such as
“Bending Fail! Please increase the depth of mat or number of layers”. If the pressures are within the
allowable limit then the necessary mat length, p value, load on mat, and minimum mat cantilever distance
are generated. A screen capture of the mat design page can be seen in Figure 7.

Figure 7: Labelled screen capture of mat design page

3.4 Generating and Exporting Lift Study Table

With all information required for a lift study table now available, the user returns to the Lift Design Page
and clicks “Generate Table”. The generated table has a feature that exports the table into an MS Excel
spreadsheet. The spreadsheet can then easily be imported into the AutoCAD layout created by the lift
study AutoCAD plug-in.

4 VALIDATION

The Rapid Lift Study Generation system was used to recreate the graphical portion for a total of 34 pre-
existing lift studies from a project by NCSG Crane & Heavy Haul Services. The project was located in Fort
McMurray, Alberta and involved the assembly of prefabricated pipe racks that had been transported to
the site by trucks. The crane featured in the lift studies was the Manitowoc 18000. The 55A configuration
was used with a boom length of 280 ft. The studies featured 18 pipe racks weighing up to 211,974 lb with
lengths up to 120 ft. All lifts featured were single-crane lifts. The transport truck, pipe racks, custom
rigging, and crane blocks had been created by the drafts-people at NCSG for use in traditional lift studies.
The blocks were then modified for use with the Rapid Lift Study Generation Program. Information relevant
to the insertion of the blocks was measured using existing AutoCAD tools and entered into spreadsheets.
Use of the program substantially reduced the time needed to insert the blocks into the drawing. Because
of the level of automation offered by the plug-in it was possible to create lift studies with less effort and
drafting knowledge. Tedious tasks such as manually inserting, rotating, and aligning the blocks were
mitigated. During the process of creating lift studies, it should be noted, it is often necessary to explore
multiple crane position options. Through use of the program it is possible to create many versions of the
same lift study in a short period of time, making the planning phase more efficient. For a few of the 34 lift
studies created the table of crane information was constructed through use of the SLP. The SLP was
tested against existing software, “Crane Support Design”, developed by Hasan et al. (2010). A sample
comparison between the two programs is provided in Table 1. For actual industrial implementation of the
developed system, further and more rigours validation is necessary.

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 Table 1: Comparison between SLP and crane support design
Calculation SLP Crane Support Design
Boom Side Front Pressure 8,284 psf 8,010 psf
Boom Side Rear Pressure 2,570 psf 2,732 psf
Counter Side Front Pressure 6,697 psf 6,429 psf
Counter Side Rear Pressure 1,982 psf 2,169 psf
Horizontal Angle For Max Pressure 30° 30°
Min. Mat Length 47.7 ft 42.7 ft
Mat Depth 12 in 12 in
Mat Width 3.8 ft 3.8 ft

Differences between values are assumed to be due to minor differences in the implementation of
formulas in creating the respective programs and the way the programs handle values. The difference in
mat length is due to the fact that SLP takes into account the bending and shear strength of the wood,
whereas the Crane Support System does not.

5 CONCLUSION

In this paper, an automatic system has been introduced for rapid lift study creation for heavy industrial
projects. The system has been proven efficient in engineering planning and the design stage for heavy
lifts. Many design factors have been considered in the calculations, such as the lifting capacity and
ground bearing pressure. The crane is inserted to its predefined pick and set locations in an AutoCAD
system using a plug-in developed by researchers at the University of Alberta; lift drawings (2D and 3D
views) are automatically generated, which shortens the drafting time and reduces the human component
involved. The designed graphical system has been tested by recreating documents for an actual industrial
project in Fort McMurray, Alberta, and the SLP results have been compared with the system previously
developed by Hasan et al. (2010).

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from Natural Sciences and Engineering
Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and our research partner, NCSG Crane & Heavy Haul Services.
Mr. Jonathan Tomalty is appreciated for his time and effort with technical editing.

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