Active Jobsite - Inside?

Have you ever driven by a construction project and thought to yourself "wow, I bet it would be cool to be run the crane?"

Well, while on a recent visit to Mortenson Construction in Minneapolis, MN, I had that chance. Mortenson Constructionis one of Autodesk's customers that is demonstrating skills through their use of Building Information Modeling and really utilizing Revit and Navisworks.

But operating the crane was a little different than one might think. They’ve simulated an active jobsite inside the lobby of their office, complete with equipment, jobsite trailer, concrete truck, steel supports, decking, and a working tower crane. How cool!

The crane itself actually works, and you can put yourself at the controls and see what it’s like for just a minute to "build" part of a building from the driver’s seat. I have to say that it's not as easy as it looks.
 
 

Watch out for the people as you’re placing the equipment, because the loads you’re moving swing easily and the risk of injury is high.

 

 

We did manage, with great effort, to move the loads to and from the building and place them back on the truck. But I think there might have been some lost time accidents with us at the controls. We may need to go back for more training. It sure was fun!