Crane Distance to Top of Slope

Marko Kaar, CHST

Director of Safety Operations Bartlett Brainard Eacott

What is the correct distance from top of slope for crane outriggers?

"In accordance with British Standards, what would be the minimum recommended distance
of 'A' in this example. Send us an email at info@swltraining.com with any comments or
queries on this, or any other lifting matter."

The answer and support was recently published:

During the time between the question and the answer, there was an interesting "side trip" via
a share of that post. Keep in mind that the initial question was relative to British standards,
so the formula above indicates that the answer to the specific question is 9.6 meters based on
CIRIA standards.

I thought it would be interesting, and insightful, to summarize some of the overall (and
sometimes quite animated) comments here...

OSHA guidance (but no actual standard) says 1.5:1. The answer may be 6 meters in the US.

Dutch Crane Rental Requirements call for distance to top of slope > depth of excavation, or
at least 1.5 meters. They assume sandy loose soil so slope distance is equal to 1.5:1. Answer
is 10 meters in the Netherlands.

Don Dickie, in his "Mobile Crane Manual" (as I recall, this number has stuck in my brain for
28 years) always recommended 2:1 from toe of slope to outrigger pads . We use 2:1 as our
guide in our company. Answer is 8 meters for me.

Someone from "A Large Multi-national Firm" said 1.5X depth back from top of slope, plus
slope, so the answer is 12 meters for him.

NYC rules call for max load of 3500#/PSF, so you have to know outrigger loading before
you design cribbing. Once you have calculated cribbing size, you can then place
accordingly...answer TBD!
And nearly everyone had a disclaimer about not knowing soil types, actual compaction,
needing geotech guidance, etc.

Bottom line is there is no definitive answer that works everywhere. But, if you look at the
various answers, none were as loose as 1:1, (or 4 meters in this case) which is a common
answer, it seems, in the US.

In my opinion, 1:1 is much too close, unless you have a geotech sign off on it. That being
said, atmospheric, geologic (stratified soils), and environmental (vibration? surcharge?)
variables abound, so the laboratory answer (have you ever read all the disclaimers appended
to the lab soils report?) may have to be amended based on site conditions. Even then, the
crane operator should know all of the variables, and be able to employ his or her own
judgement as well, always erring on the side of safety.

As an aside, the conversation was about distance from an open excavation...what about
distance from adjacent underground structures - utilities, tanks, foundations?

Rule of whose thumb? And who is going to pay for the additional reach required, if the
formula hasn't been established either by regulatory or contractual means? Does your safety
program address this issue?