An Island Life: The Tower Crane Trap

With large projects Colombo city has become one construction site.Even though that Fort city project holding at the moment,but there are considerable amount of really large construction works are happening.
Of course we are growing vertically.
Passing through these construction sites if I had to park my car ; unconsciously I m looking up searching are there any tower crane being operated.I have very insecure feeling parking close by a tower crane.Kind of forbia.
I don't know the others but for me looking at the tower crane from distance the whole thing seems to be outrageous.....
Since they have no support wires of any kind why don't this structure fall over?It has often rise over hundred feet into the air also it can reach out just as far.......
All the heavy building materials lift by tower crane...
But surprisingly I haven't heard any accident of falling of a tower crane here while Sri lanka rest of other things falling apart but tower cranes seems to be very stable.........
The tower crane what it can do seems nearly impossible.It also grow taller as the building grows taller and lifts tons of heavy building materials to make our lives more easier.
All these things came to my mind because I had no any experience working in a site with tower cranes.There is a first time for everything....
Sometimes life gives very thrilling experiences suddenly,same has happened to me... Right now I got eight tower cranes one is already growing right in front of me.
The first element of the is stability.Every construction company do hard working to build the large concrete pad which poured weeks before the cranes arrive.
This massive concrete pad most cases over 150,000kg being supported by friction piles.Some times those piles has gone to the bedrock. Large anchor bolts embedded deep into the pad to support the base of the crane.
when it explain it very simple way the base of the crane very strongly bolted to the ground ensuring it s stability.
Then top of the tower which known as slewing unit , the gear and motor.On top of the slewing unit there are working arm ,the long horizontal Jib that is the portion which carries the load,
Then the operators cab,I think it has AC,I never get any chance to climb up to operator's cab.
I don t think I will.
In Sri lanka operating a tower crane consider as very masculine work.I also agreed.I haven t seen any tower crane operating female figure here, but in South Korea apparently there is a one female tower crane operator.This was told by our deputy design manager Mr.Chun Sung Tae.Hope that she will come to our site.That 's something called gender equity.
It s hard work.There is no toilet or such utility facilities.The poor fellow have to all the down to for those things...Imagine that climbing 100-150 feet in the burning sun through cat ladder in three four times a day.Cant believe they do it really?I have no idea.Only what I have seen is climbing it in the morning.
But still their may be accidents occur unless we did not follow the safety precautions.I know there is no any way of climbing a tower crane, because it s restricted only allows skilled operators...

Here are some picture which I got today from the adjoin building terrace.