Crane site plan example: building a plan around a tower crane

What a good crane site plan shows

The crane is usually the biggest decision on a site plan, because everything else arranges itself around the hook. A useful plan answers a few questions at a glance: can the crane reach every lift point, where does the slew ring pass over neighbouring land, footpaths and roads, and where do trucks stop to unload?

Step by step

1. Calibrate your site plan to the map. Drop in your site plan PDF or image and line it up on live satellite imagery so everything is at true scale.
2. Draw the site boundary. Trace the boundary so you can see exactly where the crane radius crosses it.
3. Place the tower crane. Choose a true-size tower crane from the SITE OBJECTS library, set the lift radius and drag it until the slew ring covers your lift points.
4. Mark lift and no-lift zones. Split the slew so the plan shows where loads can and can’t travel, and add an oversail zone where the jib passes beyond the boundary.
5. Add the loading zone and laydown. Put them under the hook, close to the gate, so materials move once.
6. Route trucks and people. Draw the delivery route in and out, and keep pedestrian walkways clear of the lift area.
7. Place site sheds and amenities. Site offices, toilets and parking go outside the lift zone where practical.
8. Export. Print a PDF with a legend and north arrow, and save your EasySiteSI files so the plan can be updated as the job changes.

Tips

• Try two crane positions side by side and compare their coverage before choosing one.
• Check overhead power lines and trees near the jib and mark exclusion zones.
• Remember EasySiteSI shows reach and slew, not capacity. Load charts and lift studies stay with your crane supplier and engineers.

Watch a whole plan being built

See every step in one go in How to Make a Site Logistics Plan from Scratch | Full Build on YouTube. In about 15 minutes it builds a complete plan in 10 steps, from calibrating the drawing to the map through to the site boundary, a tower crane, water tanks, routes, phases and export.