Ontario Construction News staff writer
The Greater Toronto Area saw its crane count fall to 230 in the third quarter of 2022, but the city still reports the most cranes in the sky of 14 major cities across North America. Most of Toronto’s cranes – 126 cranes – are on residential worksites.
The information was reported in the latest Crane Index from Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB), which tracks the number of operating tower cranes in Toronto, Calgary, Boston, New York, Washington, Chicago, Denver, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Los Vegas, San Fransisco, Portland, Seattle, and Honolulu.
Stats for all 14 cities recorded a 0.62 per cent (three cranes) drop from the Q1 2022 edition of the RLB Crane Index.
Toronto’s dip was caused by “a significant decline in new condo sales and mixed-use projects”, combined with staffing shortages in the construction sector.
Looking ahead, the report says that promised government investments in transportation infrastructure will benefit the region’s economy.
Calgary, the only other Canadian city I the report, experienced a drop since the first quarter of the year, with 21 cranes in Q3 because many residential and office building projects in the downtown area were completed. Several construction projects valued at $7.4 billion are now underway in the city.
Infrastructure, including highway interchanges, flood mitigation projects, community improvements, bridge work, and transit improvements, including the new Green Line light-rail transit project, are included in the city’s largest infrastructure investment in its history.