One of the largest markets for conventional truck cranes in the Central and South Texas regions is the precast concrete tiltwall commercial construction industry. This type of construction has been used in this area for over 25 years and seems to be on the rise again.

If you have ever been in a Home Depot, Walgreens, Best Buy, or Blockbuster Video store you have been in a building with walls made of precast concrete tiltwalls. For those not familiar with tiltwall construction the concrete walls are actually poured laying down on the building's concrete foundation. Before the tiltwall panel is poured an anti-bonding agent is sprayed on the concrete that the panel will lay on. This is done so that when the panel is lifted by a crane for vertical placement it will not stick to the building folor. After the tiltwall panel has been poured the concrete must be allowed to harden (cure) for several days.

At that point the lifting of the panel (of course done with a TCS crane) begins. When the panel is formed and poured on the building's concrete foundation (slab) the concrete contractor places inserts (lifting eyes) at predetermined points in each panel. These lifting eyes will allow the crane's rigging lines to be fastened to the panel to lift and stand it (see inserted picture).

Now TCS's customer takes over. According to one such company "... each tiltwall panel will weigh between 50,000 and 75,000 pounds..." The crane rigging lines are attached to the panel via the lifting eyes. The crane hoist the panel upright and sets it perpindicular to the building slab. Long braces are then attached to the inside of the wall and the slab to hold up this huge concrete wall. The roof is then secured to the top of the panels that make up the building's walls.

"The danger in this type of construction work is great", says Mr. Junior Gonzales of G&L Welding, Inc., another strong competitor in Central and South Texas in this type of specialty construction. And one superintendent for E.E. Reed Construction Company says, "If you can imagine 50,000 to 100,000 pounds of concrete suspended in the air hanging from a crane over the crane operator's head, the inherent danger in this business is only too real." Industry jargon refers to this situation as suicide walls and crane operators as well as erectors are very leery of these types of situations. TCS and its erector customers are trying to influence owners, architects, and engineers to avoid the necessity for suicide tiltwalls. It is unsafe and life threatening to those involved in standing these panels.

On average if tiltwalls are in the 50,000 to 75,000 pound size range TEXAS CRANE and its customers can stand 20 to 30 tiltwall panels in an eight hour work day. This level of production far exceeds the industry average and takes great teamwork between TCS personnel and the skilled ground crew of the erector. On one occasion when the panels were average size and had been laid out on the slab just right, one of TEXAS CRANE's most skilled and senior operators, set 71 tiltwall panels in eight hours. The Operator said, "That day was unbelievable, it was like a team doing everything right. The coordination between the erector's crew and my crew was phenomenal. We specialize in tiltwall panel erection at TCS and set over 95% of the tiltwalls in the area. I have been in this business for over 25 years and have never had a day to rival that one."

So the next time you walk into a store constructed with tiltwall panels don't get nervous. But remember that as you are walking down the store's aisles that hundreds of thousands of pounds of concrete surround you. Don't worry, a lot of highly skilled professionals were involved in the construction of those concrete tiltwall panels.