Lift Planning

By Mike Larson

thorough lift plan resolves potential problems long before the crane and load arrive on site.

To better understand what makes a good lift plan, Crane Hot Line asked two experts who have decades of experience analyzing and engineering complex lifts.

John Engberg, vice president of engineering at Barnhart Crane & Rigging Co., told how to assure that planning, engineering, and communication work together.

Michael Walsh, president of Dearborn Companies, explained specific topics a comprehensive lift plan must address.

Both said a successful plan should start long before the lifting date and must look at factors beyond the load, rigging, and crane.

Connecting Engineering and Execution-- John Engberg

Effective lift planning requires a disciplined process that considers the load, equipment, site conditions, execution methodology, and the people performing the work.

At Barnhart, we emphasize three interconnected elements of successful lifting operations: planning, engineering, and communication.

Each serves a distinct purpose, but their effectiveness depends on how well they work together.

Planning: One of the most common mistakes in lift planning is focusing only on the lift rather than the entire operation.

An effective plan must also evaluate site access, ground conditions, equipment positions, load paths, obstructions, clearances, and the work’ s sequence of activities.

The most challenging part of an operation may be getting the equipment into position, navigating a constrained environment, or safely moving a load to its final supports.

Good planning anticipates challenges before they become field problems.

Engineering: Although engineering

Successful lift plans account for site complexities such as multiple cranes, existing structures, ground conditions, underground voids, on-site travel paths, delivery timing, and coordination with trades.

validates equipment selection, rigging setups, load distribution, structural adequacy, and operational limits, it should not be simply a final check of a completed plan.

Involving engineering early, particularly when operations involve unusual configurations, limited clearances, complex load paths, or uncertain conditions, can reveal ways to improve both safety and efficiency.

The objective is to establish that an operation can be done reliably within the actual working environment.

Communication: Even the most sound lift plan has limited value if the people doing the work do not understand its intent, assumptions, and limitations.

Effective communication ensures that everyone understands their responsibilities, the sequence of operations, critical hold points, and conditions that would require stopping work and reassessing the plan.

Field verification is equally important. Conditions encountered during execution do not always match those anticipated during planning.

When circumstances change, the right response is to evaluate the implications, not

( Photo courtesy of Dearborn Companies.)

improvise around the original plan.

Ultimately, the measure of a successful lift plan is how effectively it translates into safe, predictable execution in the field.

The best lift plans are developed when planners, engineers, and experienced field personnel combine technical rigor with practical execution knowledge.

Plan from the Ground, Up

-- Michael T. Walsh

Every good lift plan begins with a site survey, walked by someone accountable for the lift. The survey should answer five questions: 1. Where and how can lift handling equipment( LHE) get in? 2. What are the ground conditions? 3. How and where can you assemble and disassemble the LHE? 4. How and where will every load be delivered, picked, and placed?

5. What interferences, such as power lines, structures, and public access, exist?

Those answers let LHE selection, engineering, and lift planning be based on reality.

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November 2026 • www. cranehotline. com