- Two Potain tower cranes are supporting distinct but coordinated construction efforts at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee — a new parking structure, served by a Potain MD 559, and a hospital expansion, supported by a Potain MD 569.
- Reynolds Rigging & Crane Service is delivering full in house planning, assembly, disassembly, and crane operations for both projects.
Froedtert Hospital is undergoing a major campus expansion that includes a new six-story parking garage with four elevators, three stair towers and a skywalk that links to a new expansion of its main hospital building.
With limited laydown area inside an active healthcare campus, the project’s contractors chose Potain tower cranes to reduce their reliance on ground staging and minimize the site footprint. The overriding goal is to complete construction with zero disruption to hospital operations. Reynolds Rigging & Crane Service understood the importance and sequenced trucking, assembly, and dismantle to protect day-to-day hospital activity.
The garage was designed, and its construction sequenced around a centrally placed Potain MD 559 so one crane could cover its footprint. This approach reduced the number of cranes and equipment on campus and simplified site circulation. Once the MD 559 was erected at the heart of the garage footprint, it became the workhorse of the project, supporting every stage of construction from early concrete work through finishing tasks.
The 22 USt capacity crane is lifting and setting large precast planks, heavy rebar bundles, curtain wall frames, and site elements such as light poles and masonry, enabling crews to keep the build moving without introducing extra machines into the campus. When the structure is complete, the crane pad will be repurposed to house the snow-melt system, leaving no trace that the entire build had once revolved around its position.
With a 900,000-square-foot footprint and multiple structural complexities, smaller cranes simply wouldn’t have been able to meet the demands of the build. The MD 559 offered the reach and lifting capacity needed to maintain efficiency, safety, and productivity in a tight, high-traffic medical campus setting. Its design quality and performance have been a key factor in keeping the project on schedule.
Source: The Manitowoc Company.
