Pell City Industrial Park Expansions Need Certified Crane Crews

Three expansions worth knowing about

Eissmann Automotive, an auto interior supplier, is the largest industrial employer in St. Clair County. Its $14.5 million expansion in the Pell City Industrial Park was announced with 200 new jobs, and the county’s economic development council has said the plant grew from 85 workers in its first phase to about 650.

Ford Meter Box, an Indiana maker of underground waterworks products in Pell City since 1982, has been expanding with a project valued around $23.2 million. It includes a new 60,000-square-foot building and equipment for fabricating large-diameter steel components.

Douglas Manufacturing, part of the Rulmeca Group, announced an investment of almost $11.7 million in 2024 for a roughly 50,000-square-foot idler plant on Industrial Park Drive. The company makes conveyor parts such as pulleys, idlers, impact beds and take-ups used in mining and bulk handling, and the city agreed to upgrade Industrial Park Drive as part of the deal.

What those projects ask of a crane crew

Factory expansions follow a familiar order. First the shell: columns, joists and roof deck set by hydraulic or crawler cranes. Then the runway beams for in-plant overhead cranes. Last, machinery placement, where heavy, top-heavy equipment gets picked off trailers and set onto anchor bolts with very little room for error.

The last phase is where rigging skill shows. Center of gravity, sling angles, load weight checks and tag line control all come into play, often inside a partly enclosed building where the operator can’t see the set point. A qualified rigger under 1926.1425 and a qualified signal person under 1926.1428 make those picks possible. Once the plant is running, its own overhead cranes fall under the general industry standard, 1910.179.

Machinery moves also bring cranes close to live plant operations. Lift plans that account for forklifts, pedestrian aisles and overhead lines inside a fenced yard are part of a normal expansion here, and operators who can read a load chart quickly and adjust a setup are the ones contractors keep calling back.

Lake, interstate and weather

Pell City sits on Logan Martin Lake, a Coosa River reservoir, and docks, boathouses and lakeside homes sometimes need a crane set near the shoreline, where ground can be soft and setup space is tight. I-20 brings truck traffic and occasional road and bridge projects. Across central Alabama, summers are hot and humid, afternoon thunderstorms are routine, and spring brings tornado season; wind and lightning limits are part of every lift plan.

Recommended courses for Pell City

• Mobile crane operator prep for operators setting steel and equipment on plant expansions.
• Rigger Level 2 for millwright and machinery-moving crews handling complex picks.
• Signal person prep for anyone directing blind lifts inside buildings.
• Articulating crane prep for knuckle-boom work at lakeside and residential sites.