Crane Exam Prep for Alexander City and the Lake Martin Area

Shoreline lifts on Lake Martin

Alabama Power finished Martin Dam on the Tallapoosa River at Cherokee Bluffs in 1926, a concrete structure 168 feet high and 2,000 feet long that created what was then the largest man-made lake in the world. The reservoir covers roughly 40,000 acres at full pool with more than 700 miles of shoreline, and homes, boathouses, docks and seawalls keep going up along it.

Those jobs rarely offer flat, open ground. Access roads are narrow and steep, lots fall away toward the water, and the crane often sits high on the bank reaching down and out. Long radius cuts capacity fast, so the chart has to be read for the real setup on every pick. Soil near the water stays soft, especially after rain or when the lake level drops, so use mats and check for fill, septic fields and buried lines before setting outriggers. Service drops strung to lake houses are another hazard worth walking the site for.

Industry along US 280

As apparel work faded, the Lake Martin Area Economic Development Alliance recruited replacement employers. Auto parts maker SL Alabama, for one, expanded its Alexander City plant by 75,000 square feet in 2010 with more than $20 million in new machinery. Just across the line in Coosa County, Westwater Resources and its subsidiary Alabama Graphite Products broke ground in April 2022 on a $202 million plant in the Lake Martin Regional Industrial Park off US 280 near Kellyton, designed to refine graphite for electric vehicle batteries.

Plant construction and expansions like these call for steel erection, process equipment setting and machinery moving, with qualified riggers and certified operators on the crane. Ongoing maintenance at auto supplier plants brings regular press, die and conveyor work too.

• Mobile crane operator for truck cranes setting trusses, steel and boathouse framing.
• Articulating crane operator for knuckle boom delivery trucks on tight lake lots.
• Digger derrick operator for utility crews setting poles across rural Tallapoosa County.
• Signal person for picks where the operator can’t see the landing point down the bank.

Wind off open water

East-central Alabama summers are hot and humid, and afternoon thunderstorms can build over the lake with little warning. Open water gives wind a long run, so gusts at a lakefront site can be stronger than in town. Spring brings tornado watches. Lower loads before storms arrive and follow the manufacturer’s wind limits rather than a rule of thumb.

When the operator sits uphill and the landing point is below the bank, a qualified signal person on a clear radio channel becomes the operator’s eyes. Agree on signals before the first lift and keep one person, and only one, directing the load.

Federal standards, applied locally

Alabama doesn’t license crane operators, and Alexander City has no local card. Federal OSHA enforces Subpart CC on private construction: operator certification from an accredited body plus an employer evaluation, along with qualified riggers and signal persons. UA SafeState offers free, confidential OSHA consultation to Alabama employers who want a second look at their program. Details are in the requirements guide.