Abstract—Foundation of tower crane serves to ensure stabilityagainst vertical and horizontal forces. If foundation stress is notsufficient, tower crane may be subject to overturning, shearing orfoundation settlement. Therefore, engineering review of stable supportis a highly critical part of foundation design. However, there are notmany professionals who can conduct engineering review of towercrane foundation and, if any, they have information only on a smallnumber of cranes in which they have hands-on experience. It is alsocustomary to rely on empirical knowledge and tower crane renter’s

recommendations rather than designing foundation on the basis ofengineering knowledge. Therefore, a foundation design automationsystem considering not only lifting conditions but also overturningrisk, shearing and vertical force may facilitate production of foolprooffoundation design for experts and enable even non-experts to utilizeprofessional knowledge that only experts can access now. This studyproposes Automatic Design Algorithm for the Tower CraneFoundations considering load and horizontal force.

Keywords—Tower Crane, Automatic Design, Foundations,Optimization Algorithm, Stability

I. INTRODUCTION

N case of high-rise building construction project located indensely populated urban area, tower crane cannot lift load atfree standing height alone but beyond applicable building

height. Tower crane lifting load to high elevation is exposed tohorizontal force created by natural phenomenon such astyphoon or gust or incident caused by its self-weight or liftingload. For example, when the typhoon Maemee struck Korea in2003, 43 tower cranes capsized or collapsed, taking gigantictoll in terms of loss of life and damage to properties (Koo2006)[1]. In 2006, alone, 6 tower cranes collapsed (KOSHA2007)[2]. In the U.S., between 1991 to 2002, crane-relatedfatalities were found out to account for 8% of total constructionfatalities (Beavers et al., 2006)[3]. Stability of tower crane isbasically determined by required lifting load and crane typeselection as per construction conditions. To be more specific, itis determined by jib length, lateral support and foundation, etc.Among them, tower crane foundation serves to ensure stabilityagainst vertical and horizontal forces. If foundation stress is notsufficient, tower crane may be subject to overturning, shearingor foundation settlement. Therefore, engineering review of

Sungho Lee is with the Department of Architectural Engineering ,Kyunghee University, Suwon, Korea.(e-mail: khlsh@khu.ac.kr)

Goonjae Lee is with the Department of Architectural Engineering ,Kyunghee University, Suwon, Korea.( m60dx@nate.com)

Jinkyu Joo is with Shindongah Engineering & Construction, Seoul, Korea.(myzhu@hanafos.com)

Sunkuk is with the Department of Architectural Engineering , KyungheeUniversity, Suwon, Korea. Correspond to (kimskuk@khu.ac.kr)

stable support is a highly critical part of foundationdesign.However, there are not many professionals who canconduct engineering review of tower crane foundation and, ifany, they have information only on a small number of cranes inwhich they have hands-on experience. It is also customary torely on empirical knowledge and tower crane renter’s

recommendations rather than designing foundation on the basisof engineering knowledge. Therefore, a foundation designautomation system considering not only lifting conditions butalso overturning risk, shearing and vertical force may facilitateproduction of foolproof foundation design for experts andenable even non-experts to utilize professional knowledge thatonly experts can access now. There have been several studiesfocusing on the review of base plate stability followingselection of tower crane type [4, 5, 6], however, such studies goonly as far as conducting simply structural review, as base platedesign and construction is largely tied to standard drawingsfurnished by tower crane manufacturers, which leadsresearchers to overlook other factors [7]. There was also a studyto optimize base plate size on the basis of the stability andcost-effectiveness of tower crane [7], however, such study alsorevealed some difference from this study focusing onautomation of base plate and pile design in terms of scope andmethod.This study aims to develop automatic design algorithm for thetower crane foundations. Foundations herein include base plateand pile and stability review targets overturning moment,bearing force of soil, shearing and pile bearing capacity. Thisstudy, to present automatic design of foundations, examinedpreceding studies including base plate sizing process, analyzedstability review items and proposed automatic foundationdesign algorithm on the basis of analysis outcomes. Automaticdesign algorithm analyzes overturning moment, bearing forceof soil, shearing, and pile bearing capacity in consideration ofsite conditions and tower crane selection and designs footingbar arrangement, pile quantity, and spacing automatically toensure stability.

II.THEORETICAL SURVEY

A. Literature survey

Leonhard [8] et al. studied safety and efficiency of liftingequipment operation along with many others. Leonhardintroduced Intelligent Technology for Mobile CraneMonitoring System in 1997 [8]. John proposed videocommunication system to improve productivity and safety ofcrane operation [9] and Leung studied development of liftingtime estimation model for tower crane in 1999 [10]. Suchstudies as focused on lifting plan and lifting equipment

Sungho Lee, Goonjae Lee, Chaeyeon Lim, and Sunkuk Kim

Automatic Design Algorithm for the TowerCrane Foundations

I

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operation aimed to improve efficiency in planning andoperation phases and reduce safety incidents during equipmentoperation, which is different from the objectives hereof.Severalresearchers also studies crane selection in connection withlifting plan. Furusaka and Gray (1984) proposed a method toselect optimum crane by using objective function that couldminimize the total cost of the hire, assembly and dismantling[11]. Gray and Little (1985) suggested a systematic approach toselect mobile and tower crane suitable for design work duringthe early design process. Notably, in case of tower crane, theypresented a systematic approach implemented by acomputer-based expert system that could design not onlyluffing jib and saddle jib but also select and locate crane baseout of various alternatives in consideration of site conditions[12]. However, they neither proposed a method to reviewstability of crane following selection nor an approach toutilizing information already in place for various availablecrane types.Following studies have focused intensively onstability review in relation to tower crane installation. First,Hoh, Jong-Gwan et al. (2007)[13] proposed a tower cranestability simulation program to improve efficiency of stabilityreview following tower crane type selection and Hoh,Jong-Gwan et al. (2007)[14] developed a system to optimizetower crane selection to site conditions and review its stabilityin lifting planning stage. Han, Gap-Kyoo et al.(2007)[15]introduced an approach to reviewing base plate stability usingopti-crane program following crane type selection and Hoh,Jong-Gwan (2008)[16] studied needs for tower crane stabilityreview tool and development program after examining towercrane operation status in Korea. Such studies related to stabilityreview and system implementation, failing to proposeautomatic foundation design algorithm. Therefore, this studyaims to propose stability review approach that can enableautomatic foundation design and present necessary algorithm.

B. Foundation and piles of tower crane

Foundation of tower crane includes fixing anchor andconcrete locking it in place. Foundation of fixed base towercrane included in the scope hereof is installed by locking fixingangle in concrete block on the ground and used mostly forreinforced concrete apartment building and low structure. Asmentioned in the scope of study, it can be used when thebearing force of soil is sufficient and the strength of concreteblock for fixing anchor must be 255kg/cm2 or more. [7].

III. STABILITY REVIEW OF TOWER CRANE FOUNDATIONS

A. Stability review of foundation

To develop an auto foundation design algorithm, tower cranebase plate structure needs to be reviewed, using maximumtower crane free standing height and corresponding load. As astructural review, overturning moment which means momentcaused by external force and intended to tilt or tip over astructure beyond its equilibrium is reviewed. And the bearingforce of soil where tower crane is installed is reviewed to see ifit can bear the load of tower crane and base plate. Lastly, one

way shear and two way shear are reviewed in consideration ofdesign shear strength of concrete against the self weight oftower crane installed on tower crane base plate.To review theoverturning risk of tower crane by load eccentricity,overturning moment( ) that can overturn the foundation bymoment applied to tower crane ( ) and horizontal force ( ) isestimated and resistance moment( ) that can resist selfweight of tower crane foundation( ) and vertical force( ) iscalculated. It is deemed to be safe if the ratio betweenoverturning moment and resistance moment is equal to orgreater than safety factor ( ) 1.5 as calculated by (1) to (3)

)( DHMMo (1)

2)(

MINr

LVWM (2)

OKnM

M

o

r)5.1( (3)

Where, momentOverturingoM

momentResistancerM

momentweragainst toMomemM

creane tower toappliedloadHorizonralH

platebasecrane towerof weightSelfW

crane towerofloadVerticalV

When the maximum ground pressure exceeds the bearingforce of soil, base plate is settled, which can result in theoverturning of tower crane. Therefore, risk associated with thebearing force of soil is reviewed. Allowable bearing force ofsoil was based on the soil bearing force test results or of soil or

value shown in soil boring log. Maximum ground force iscompared to allowable bearing force of soil to determinestability.

To review one way shear and two way shear, required shearstrength of tower crane base plate at critical section against xaxis and y axis is estimated and compared with design shearstrength to determine stability. To calculate design shearstrength applied to concrete base plate, in case of one wayshear, (4) is used in case of a member under only shear forceand bending moment and (5) is used in case of a member undercompressive force in axis direction. In case of two way shear,lesser value calculated in (6) is used.

dbfV wckC61

(4)

dbfA

NV wck

o

uC )

141(

6

1(5)

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Fig. 1

dbfV ckc

C 0)2

1(61

dbfda

V ckc

sC 0)

21(

6

1

dbfV ckC 03

1the minimum value

B. Stability review of foundation with piles

If the ground is soft, not suitable for indedesign or there is rock bed at close location undbe cost-effective and stable to use piles in crane base plate. Pile foundation used bdistributes the load of tower crane shorn by shear force and moment caused by reaction foundation was also reviewed in terms of ontwo way shear as in the case of independpunching shear of the pile itself was reviewed.size and allowable bearing capacity were revieshorn by tower crane was reviewed.

Overturning review was conducted as independent footing and overturning mominstallation was found to be insignificant. As tcrane and base plate is supported by the beafoundation, the number of piles was calculatedof allowable bearing capacity of a single preaction to be borne by each pile against mforce was calculated and compared with allowindividual pile to determine stability.

IV. AUTOMATIC DESIGN ALGORITHM OF F

A. Concept of automatic foundations design

As described in Section 3, tower crane foube designed by reviewing stability against bearing capacity, pile reaction and pile pull-ouand stability review items are expected of consisting of foundations. First, base plate trantower crane to the ground and prevents mast funder horizontal force. Therefore, as Fig. 1 sbase plate, bearing force of soil, stability agaand shearing needs to be reviewed. Next, pi

. 1 Tower crane foundation stability review items

lue (6)

es

ndependent footingnderground, it may

in designing tower by tower craney pile and support

on of the pile. Pileone way shear andndent footing anded. In addition, pileviewed against load

s in the case ofoment from piles the load of tower

bearing capacity ofted in consideration pile. In addition, maximum groundlowable reaction of

FOUNDATIONS

ign

oundation needs tost overturn, shear,-out. Different rolesof plate and piles

transfers the load ofst from overturning1 shows, in case ofagainst overturning piles are added if

bearing force of soil is not sufficienfoundation from settlement. Thenreaction and pile pull-out stability determine pile specification, quantforce of soil and shear stress of toweadjusting the size of base plate. Howesoil on site is less than standard requisecured by increasing the size of basepile needs to be added to foundationforce of soil. Therefore, tower cranetwo steps as shown in Fig. 2: base plafterwards, subject to stability reviewa step in which base plate bearing caare reviewed and it needs to be detebase plate or add piles. If pile addidesigned and stability is determincapacity, If stability is not securedadjusted.The algorithm proposed automate the process of determininamount and pile addition and pile quato review required stability items in well. The algorithm improves the efoundation design by reducing marenter a variety of metrics directly asteps.

B. Automatic foundation design al

The algorithm proposed herein algorithm that can be used when towAs tower crane is selected in considworking radius, lifting load and freimported from tower crane informatdesign step as design metrics. As shcrane is selected, base plate is deinformation and base plate desispecification and arrangement spacin

Then, rebar specification and determined on the basis of RC minimum rebar amount is applied rebar design.

Next, stability is reviewed rebaradjusted.

ient and expected to preventen, bearing capacity, pilety needs to be reviewed tontity and spacing. Bearingwer crane can be secured bywever, if the bearing force ofuirement, stability cannot bease plate alone. In such case,on in order to secure bearingane foundation is planned in plate design and pile design

iew results. A in Fig. 2 shows capacity, shear and overturnetermined whether to size upddition is required, piles areined by reviewing bearinged, pile design needs to bed herein is configured toining base plate size, rebarquantity. It is also configuredin each step automatically as efficiency and accuracy ofargin of error as engineers and adjust them in several

algorithm

in is a base plate designwer crane has been selected.

sideration of lifting load andfree standing height can beation selected in base plate

shown in Fig. 3, once towerdesigned from tower craneesign standards and rebarcing are determined.d arrangement spacing areC design information andd first to prevent excessive

ar arrangement need to be

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Such steps are repeated until overturn and ssecured. Then, bearing force of soil is reviewwhether or not to install piles. If site conditionsbase plate, making it impossible to secure bearor base plate needs to be too big in order to beaefficiency and cost-effectiveness is compromisefficient foundation design that restricts the sand adds piles is required.Pile specification

Fig. 3 Autom

V.CONCLUSIONS

Foundation of tower crane serves to ensurevertical and horizontal forces. If foundatio

Fig. 2 Concept of design of foundations

d shear stability isiewed to determineons limit the size ofearing force of soil,earing force of soil,

mised. In such case,e size of base platen and quantity are

adjusted to secure bearing capacideveloped, pile spacing, reaction areviewed in relation to base placompleted, bearing capacity is revdesign of which stability has been cstored and printed out.

tomatic design algorithm for the tower carne foundations

ure stability againstation stress is not

sufficient, tower crane may be subjeor foundation settlement. Thereforstable support is a highly critical pHowever, there are not many profeengineering review of tower crane fo

acity. When pile design isn and pull-out needs to belate size. Once design is

reviewed again. Foundationn confirmed in such steps is

ject to overturning, shearingfore, engineering review ofl part of foundation design.fessionals who can conduct foundation and, if any, they

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have information only on a small number of cranes in whichthey have hands-on experience. To address such problems, thisstudy proposes automatic design algorithm for fixed towercrane foundation with piles. Conclusions drawn herein are asfollows.

Tower crane stability review items were analyzed to identifyreview items required for base plate design and pile design. Asshown in Fig. 1, base plate design requires review of bearingforce of soil, overturn and shear stability. Pile design needsreview of bearing capacity and pile reaction and pile pull-outstability as well.

A step of determining pile addition at the time of foundationsdesign was proposed. Such step proceeds in the order ofreviewing bearing capacity, shear and overturn of base platefirst and sizing up base plate or adding piles, subject to stabilitydetermination. If piles are to be added, piles are designed andbearing capacity, pile reaction and pile pull-out are reviewed todetermine. If stability is not secured, pile design needs to berevisited.

Foundations design process was proposed to define theconcept of stability review process. Tower crane informationand site condition data are imported, which will be applied tosubsequent studies and expected to increase the operationalefficiency of site crews as well.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This work was supported by the National ResearchFoundation of Korea(NRF) grant funded by the Koreagovernment(MEST)(No. 2011-0001031)

REFERENCES

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[4] J.K. Ho, A System Development for Selecting Tower Cranes andReviewing the Safety, Architecture, 50(6), pp.112-116, 2006

[5] J.K. Ho, K.K. Han, S.K. Kim, Tower Crane Foundation Design andStability Review Model, Korea Institute of Ecological Architecture andEnvironment, Vol.7(6), pp99-106, 2007

[6] K.K. Han, A.Y. Kim, S.K. Kim, A Stability Examination Of TowerCranes Base through OptiCRANE-TC, Korea Institute of EcologicalArchitecture and Environment, Vol.13, pp.139-142, 2007

[7] Sun-Kuk Kim , Jang-Young Kim, Dong-Hoon Lee, Sang-Yeon Ryu,Automatic Optimal Design Algorithm for the Foundation of TowerCranes, Journal of Automation in Construction, 2011

[8] Leonhard E. Bernold, Steven J. Lorenc, and Erick Luces. (1997)."On-Line Assistance for Crane Operators." J. Comp. in Civ. Engrg. 11,248

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[11] Shuzo Furusaka , Colin Gray ,A model for the selection of the optimumcrane for construction sites, Construction Management and Economics22,157 - 176,September 1984

[12] C. Gray, J. Little, (1985). “A systematic approach to the selection of anappropriate crane for a construction site”, Construction Management and

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[13] J.K. Ho, K.K. Han, S.K. Kim, Tower Crane Foundation Design andStability Review Model, Korea Institute of Ecological Architecture andEnvironment, Vol.7(6), pp99-106, 2007

[14] J.K. Ho, D.H. Kook, S.K. Kim, A System for the Selection of theOptimum Tower Cranes, Korean Journal of Construction Engineeringand Management, Vol.8(6), pp.216-226, 2007

[15] K.K. Han, A.Y. Kim, S.K. Kim, A Stability Examination Of TowerCranes Base through OptiCRANE-TC, Korea Institute of EcologicalArchitecture and Environment, Vol.13, pp.139-142, 2007

[16] J.K. Ho, Tower Crane Stability Review Program Development, SamsungE&C, Samsung E&C Technology, Vol.55, pp.57-63, 2006

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