Toronto has the most Tower Cranes erected in North America

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Only 2 cities in the US have more tower cranes erected than Portland as the city’s building booms in mixed-use/residential projects.

As of July 2018, there are 30 construction cranes rising above Portland, according to the RLB Crane Index for North America. Only Seattle with 65 and Los Angeles with 36 have more in use at this time.

But Toronto has the most of anywhere in North America, with 90 in the most recent compilation of statistics from July 2018.

The 30 tower cranes in Portland are actually 2 fewer than in January 2018. The January 2019 report noted the cranes in Portland held steady.

The tower cranes are primarily erected at the Oregon Convention Center, Providence Park, downtown and the inner SE Portland neighborhoods, with the dominant sector being mixed-use buildings.

The tower crane collapse in Seattle that killed 4 people Saturday, which was caused by a wind burst while an assist crane was disassembling the tower crane put a spotlight on the safety of the dozens of tower cranes that dot the city’s skyline.  With Amazon, Google and other tech companies increasing their hiring in Seattle, the city has more tower cranes building office towers and apartment buildings than any other major city in the United States. However, how tragic this crane accident was it is extremely rare for a tower crane to fail unless weather or operator error contributes to the crane accident.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said 220 people have died in construction crane accidents in the most recent period compiled between 2011 and 2015.

Rider Levett Bucknall, which describes itself as a leading independent organization in cost management and quantity surveying, project management, and advisory services,” puts the RLB Crane Index together monitoring the construction projects in North America and the Caribbean.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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