Lifting concrete safely and successfully

It takes more than just some rope and a crane to properly move concrete products

By Desiree Ward

I
t looks simple. The load is
hooked, lifted, moved to its
destination, and released.
But looks are deceiving. Lifting
concrete products is more than just
hooking a load to a crane and mov-
ing it. Improper lifting can result in
concrete damage. Selecting the
proper rigging—ropes, chains,
slings, and inserts—is key to a suc-
cessful lift.

POTENTIAL DAMAGE
What happens if a concrete slab
or product is lifted improperly?
What are the potential conse-
quences? In the worst scenario,
someone can be injured or killed.
But when it comes to just the con-
crete itself, cracks can occur or the
load can fall.
These problems can be avoided
with proper planning. No matter
how a concrete load is lifted or the
type of rigging used in the lift, two
factors must always be known: the
load’s weight and its center of
gravity.
The weight of most concrete
loads, especially precast, is often
calculated in advance by an engi-
neer. However, the weight will
change when lift protection—
Chains are often used when marring the concrete surface is not a concern.
padding or blocks—is added to
guard the load from scuffing and
other damage. The weight of this for lifting objects, including con- PROPER LIFTING
protection must also be calculated crete. Selecting the correct type of In addition to considering a
into the final weight of the load. sling will go a long way in avoid- load’s size, weight, and center of
For most symmetrical concrete ing potential problems. gravity, proper lifting requires se-
loads, such as rectangular panels, Slings are normally formed from lecting the correct sling. The sling
the center of gravity usually is on chain, wire rope, or fiber or synthet- must be strong enough to carry the
the vertical center line. For asym- ic rope. The dominant characteris- load. In a wire rope sling, for ex-
metrical loads, the center of gravity tics of any sling are determined by ample, the larger the cable’s diam-
must be calculated. the sling’s composition. A wire eter, generally the more load ca-
rope sling, for example, basically pacity the sling has. The crane
SLINGS has the same strengths and weak- hook must be directly above the
According to OSHA, slings are nesses of the wire rope from which load’s center of gravity so the load
the most commonly used device it is made. won’t tilt or cause unequal stresses
on the sling’s legs.
Second, the load on each of the
sling’s legs must be calculated. As
the angle between the legs in-
creases, the load on each leg also
increases. In general, the use of
any sling with legs at angles less
than 30 degrees from the sling’s
horizontal line is dangerous.
The load on each leg of a sling
for a 1,000 lb. load with two 60-de-
gree angles (Figure 1) can be calcu-
lated in the following manner:
STRAIGHT
CHOKER
BASKET
LOAD
LOAD
LOAD
Figure 1. The load is 1,000 lbs. and the sling
legs are 60° from the load’s horizontal line.
• Divide the total load to be
lifted by the number of legs to be
used. This provides the load per
leg if the lift were made with all
legs lifting vertically. For the ex-
ample, 1,000 lbs. divided by two
equals 500 lbs.
• Determine the angle between
the legs of the sling. In this exam-
ple, the angle is 60 degrees. When
three or more legs are used, the an-
gle will be twice the angle between
one leg and an imaginary line ex-
tending straight down from the
lifting hook.
• Multiply the load per leg
from the first step by the load fac-
tor (see chart) for the leg angle be-
ing used. For the example, 500 x
1.154 = 577 lbs. Thus, 577 lbs. is the
actual load on each leg for this lift
and angle.
The actual load must not exceed
the sling’s rated capacity. This ca-
pacity varies depending on the struction work, fiber rope is made
sling type and size. Charts are of vegetable fibers, including
available from manufacturers. manila, sisal, hemp, cotton, and
flax. Manila rope is the most com-
HITCHES mon fiber rope. The main draw-
A lift uses one of three hitches: back to using fiber rope is that it
straight, choker, or basket (Figure deteriorates on contact with acids
2). A straight or vertical hitch uses and caustics.
a sling to connect a lifting hook to Synthetic fiber rope is composed
a load. A chok- of either nylon, polyester, polyeth-
er is used when ylene or polypropylene. Also used
the concrete for temporary construction work,
load won’t be synthetic fiber is a good selection
damaged by the when acids and caustics are pre-
sling body, or 60° sent. However, it is more subject to
when the sling damage from stretching than fiber
won’t be dam- rope is.
LOAD
aged by the
load. A basket CHAINS
Figure 2. The three
distributes the basic types of hitch- Chains often are used because of
load equally be- es: straight, choker, their strength and ability to adapt to
tween the two and basket. the shape of a load. Chains are able
legs of a sling. to withstand rough handling, are
easily stored, are resistant to abra-
WIRE ROPE sion and corrosion, and are well-
As previously noted, slings are suited for lifting rough loads where
often formed from wire rope, fiber marring is not a concern.
or synthetic rope, and chain. Wire
rope is used because it has a good INSERTS
strength-to-weight ratio due to its In addition to various types of
tensile strength. slings, inserts also are used to lift
Constructed from several types of concrete products. Concrete inserts
material including steel, iron, stain- include wire cable loops and coils.
less steel, bronze, and high-carbon When selecting an insert, the
steel, wire rope is composed of indi- main consideration is how the
vidual wires that are laid to form concrete product will be picked
stands that surround a core of either
fiber, wire rope, or wire strand.
Wire rope varies according to the LEG LOAD
number of wires in a strand, the ANGLE FACTOR
number of strands in a rope, and the (DEGREES)
type of core.
Wire rope is classified according 0° 1.000
to the number of wires per strand 10 1.003
and the number of strands. For ex- 20 1.015
ample, 6x25 wire rope has 25 wires
in each of the rope’s six strands. As 30 1.035
the number of wires increases, the 40 1.064
rope’s ability to resist bending fa- 50 1.101
tigue also increases. 60 1.154
Wire rope also is defined by the 70 1.220
lay or the direction the wires and
strands are laid when the rope is as- 80 1.305
sembled. The different types of lays 90 1.414
include regular lay and lang lay. 100 1.555
110 1.743
FIBER AND SYNTHETIC FIBER ROPE 120 2.000
Often used for temporary con-
up, usually either with an edge
pick or straight lift. An edge pick
is exactly what the name i m-
plies—the concrete piece goes
from a horizontal position to a
vertical position. Inserts used in
edge lifts often have a shear bar
that spreads out the pressure of
the lift so that the pressure isn’t
concentrated in the spot around
the insert. A straight lift is a ver-
tical lift that can use a variety of
inserts.
Proper placement of the insert is
key so that the inserts can with-
stand direction tension loading,
bending, and shearing forces.
LIFTING PRECAUTIONS
No matter how a load is lifted,
steps should be taken to ensure it’s
lifted correctly. The pressure on
the load should be equally distrib-
uted. The load should never be
jerked; a slow steady movement is
best, with adjustments made ac-
cordingly.
Generally, an insert is specified
that can handle the total load equal
to dead load plus 50% impact load.
In addition, the insert should be
embedded deep enough that the
concrete will have enough area to
resist the load. When bolts are
used, they should be the correct di-
ameter and length, and they
should be tightly secured to pre-
vent bending.
In addition, any material used in
lifting is subject to adverse weath-
er conditions caused by wetness
and dryness, as well as humidity
and temperature fluctuations.
Therefore, it is important that all
ropes, chains, and slings used in
lifting be inspected daily.
REFERENCES
1. Joseph J. Waddell, “Precast Con-
crete: Handling and Erection,” ACI
monograph no. 8, 1974.
2. “Sling Safety,” OSHA, 1988.
3. Howard J. Shapiro, P.E., Jay P.
Shapiro, P.E., Lawrence K. Shapiro,
P.E., “Cranes and Derricks,” Mc-
Graw-Hill Inc., 1991, second edition.
4. Resource Systems International,
“Rigging for Commercial Construc-
tion,” Reston Publishing Co. Inc., 1983.
5. W.E., Rossnagel, Lindley R. Hig-
gins, Joseph A. MacDonald, “Hand-
book of Rigging for Construction and
Industrial Operations,” McGraw-Hill
Inc., 1988, fourth edition.
PUBLICATION #J931101
Copyright 1993
The Aberdeen Group
All rights reserved