Tampa Bay’s cranes await Hurricane Helene’s winds

As Hurricane Helene passes through the Tampa Bay area, it could bring wind gusts of up to 75 miles per hour.

So what happens to all the cranes being used to build high-rise towers across the region? Some can be dropped down to a lower height. But many of them will be left standing upright and swinging in the wind.

The technical term is called “weathervaning.” And while it may look scary to see a piece of heavy machinery rotating freely in hurricane force winds, Sean DeMartino, President of Central & North Florida Division at Coastal Construction Group, said it’s actually the safest option.

“You don’t want to have it locked down and then resisting the wind gusts in the wrong direction,” he said. “That’s when they’re at their weakest point.”

When the crane moves with the wind, it’s less likely to tip over.

Cranes and other equipment are sometimes dismantled and moved off site, but DeMartino said that’s a last resort. Most of these machines are built to weather storms even more powerful than Helene. For instance, on the site of Aqua at Westshore Yacht Club, Coastal Construction has a 160-foot crane that can withstand 145 mile per hour winds.

In Florida, nearly all construction projects have hurricane mitigation plans that are written well before there’s a named storm on the way, said Cory Ellison, President of Ellison Construction. Even on a normal rainy day, it’s not uncommon for construction crews to shut down the site or prepare for potential damage.

By Monday, Ellison’s team had already started emptying dumpsters, tying down any loose materials and boarding up windows across their various job sites.

If something does go wrong and a nearby building is damaged by flying debris, equipment failure or other mishaps on a construction site, developers have special builder’s risk insurance.

Ellison said those cases are rare if storm preparation is done right. In 16 years, his company has never had to file a claim related to a named storm.

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