to w e r- C r a n e I n s t a l l a t i o n s

origin.2 Local climate considerations or design standards may dictate that a greater design wind be used. Consensus standards and codes from different jurisdictions vary somewhat in the requirements for overturning resistance provided by a crane foundation. The widely used FEM standard takes a comprehensive approach . It considers deadweight, live load, wind and inertia as the relevant loads and specifies that five-load combinations be considered: basic stability, dynamic stability, backward stability, extreme wind, and stability during erection or dismantling. This method ignores possible limit states other than tip over, assuming that the supporting ground will remain competent under the influence of the loads that would occur at the onset of overturning. A true limit state approach would consider various failure modes of the supporting surface. The stability requirement of the American consensus standard is simple. It requires that the resisting moment be at least 150 percent of the maximum overturning moment.3 Resistance can be provided by ballast or structural anchorage. Like FEM, this standard assumes that the supporting ground remains competent at failure. For some sensitive soils, therefore, the designer might be prudent to consider the safety factor against ground failure rather than tipping. Load combinations from codes and standards that are for building structures are generally not suitable for tower-crane footings. This notion is discussed more fully in Chap. 3.

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A Spread Footing
Where a footing is required for a tower crane, the most common type is a simple spread footing. If soil is inadequate, a pile cap may be an alternative. These are simple solutions suited to sites where space and job conditions permit. The ratio of footing resisting moment to applied moment is the crucial consideration for crane footing design. With the crane applying a net moment Mo and a vertical load Q to the footing mass, which itself has a weight W, if the footing is a square with sides of length b, then 1 . 5 Mo = 3 Mo (Q + W )b b= 2 Q+W (6.1)

2 Starting in 2010, major European tower crane manufacturers began following a new CEN standard EN14439 that requires wind to be determined by geographic location. 3 American National Standard for Construction Tower Cranes, ASME B30.3-2009, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, New York, Section 1.1.1(a).