Gantry cranes 101 – What you need to know about types and applications

Gantry cranes are similiar to many other types of cranes in the way that they lift and move heavy things.   The big difference between a gantry crane and a typical crane is that a gantry train is a stationary. Other cranes such as tower cranes and luffing cranes  are also stationary. One of the big differences between a gantry crane and another type of stationary crane though is that a gantry train generally will straddle the area where the object it’s lifting is being placed. This type of setup and configuration is perfect for lifting sea containers, for example, from ships on to trucks.

A photo of a group of gantry cranes along a port area is shown below. When freight carrier ships are at port, these gantry cranes can lift up shipping containers, also referred to as conex boxes, one by then from the waterway, the gantry cranes set each container onto a truck which relocates or transports the shipping container away.   Gantry cranes of this type are a important part of the infrastructure of industry industry which allows our built environment to be created and for a modern world to operate in a bustling and thriving economy and industry.