Diary date

The International Tower Cranes conference will take place in London on 10 and 11 May at the Millennium Gloucester hotel in Kensington. The event will include presentations on tower crane innovations, rental trends, project reports and safety issues from leading industry figures.

On 10 May a viewing of London tower crane projects will take placein the afternoon. This will be followed by an informal networking drinks reception.

On  11 May Simon Marr, managing director of Marr Contracting in Australia, will start proceedings with his keynote speech, which will urge the construction industry to think differently about how tower cranes are used on large projects and not just high-rise jobs. He will argue that heavy lift tower cranes can replace other types of lifting equipment traditionally used, and thus drive productivity, cut costs and reduce risks. “In our industry, the traditional approach is to build a project around the capabilities of a crane,” Marr told International Cranes and Specialized Transport (ICST), “but we’ve flipped that and instead look at the needs of the project and build the crane solution to suit it.”

He will be followed by a whole host of other speakers including:

• Will Matthews, head of Real Estate Insight, Deloitte LLP. (London Office Crane Survey - prospects for the coming years)

• Eric Pommier, vice president engineering, Tower Cranes Division, Manitowoc Cranes. (Technology for tower crane operators: a look into the future) 
• Aviv Carmel, general manager, Skyline Cranes & Technology Ltd. (Technical innovation and working with BIM to improve efficiency in tower crane operations) 
• Mark Herlihy, lifting solutions leader, Select Plant Hire. (BIM, digital engineering & off-site manufacturing: the impact on tower cranes) 
• Marco Guariglia, managing director sales, Liebherr Tower Crane Division. (Well trained staff: improving safety and performance on the job site) 
• Pierrick Lourdain, commercial director, Matebat.(Tower crane access and French regulations: implications for rental companies) 
• Nigel Howard, safety and training manager, MPS Crane Operators. (The health, safety and welfare of crane operators: how high are our standards?) 
• Heinz-Gert Kessel, project engineering manager, Franz Bracht. (How to bring down a tower crane after topping out a building)

There will also be a round table discussion on BIM, digital engineering and tower cranes, as well as plenty of networking opportunities. We'll see you there.

For more information, logon to: http://khl-itc.com