Barnhart Steps Up to Help Housing Initiative

While Barnhart is known for large projects, the tiny ones are pretty special too, particularly when they’re for a good cause.

Barnhart’s Portland, Oregon branch was contracted to lift and set seven tiny prebuilt homes for a no income housing community initiative in Vancouver, Washington. One of their crane competitors had backed out of the project the day before the original lift date. The Barnhart team responded within an hour of the initial phone call and met onsite to see what was needed to complete the job. The last-minute change necessitated moving the lift date back two days.

Each tiny home was 14’ wide x 44’ long, weighed 34,000 pounds and contained 735 square feet of living space. They were brought in by trailer to be set onto their designated pads. The footprint of the entire community was small and there were power lines to consider and avoid.

The team utilized a 265-ton Liebherr LTM 1220 crane and a ground crew with one lift director and three riggers. The crew effectively squeezed the crane into its designated area and went to work setting up the rigging assembly. Precision was required to lift the units up in the air, maneuver them in place and set them in position. Needless to say, the sight of a large crane in the residential neighborhood drew plenty of onlookers.

Despite the last-minute change, everything was set on schedule and the customer went to work getting the homes plumbed with electricity and other utilities. The homes will house up to five people each, giving those who are struggling a way out of homelessness.   

See the story from KGW News.