It is no secret Toronto is undergoing a building boom as condo-construction rages on at a break-neck rate, and the 97 cranes towering above the city are a testament to this.
That figure comes from the latest reading of the RLB Crane Index, which counts the number of cranes in major North American cities at a given time. With nearly 100 cranes in Toronto as of July, the Ontario capital had—by a considerable margin—the most cranes of all 13 cities the index tracks.
“Looking ahead, Toronto is expected to see a boost in spending on infrastructure, which is anticipated to trigger an increase in construction activity,” reads the report from RLB, an international construction firm, including the index. “More than 400 high-rise projects have been proposed, adding to the city’s dynamic skyline.”
The next most active city for crane use was Seattle, where 65 cranes are temporarily contributing to the city’s skyline.
Seven cities saw the number of cranes rise from RLB’s last count in January. Toronto’s North America-leading number was up from 88 in January, when the city also topped the index. “The market continues to be led by the residential sector, which makes up over 86% of the total crane count,” RLB notes.
Three cities in July had consistent results compared January’s tally. Three cities had fewer cranes in July than were observed at the beginning of the year. “In July 2018, the North American crane count indicates continuous robust growth in construction activity,” says RLB in the report.
Calgary was the only other Canadian city included in the index, and it had 26 cranes last month, up from 22 in January. More than one factor contributed to the increase, the report suggests.
“Rising employment and new infrastructure projects (a ring road and a light-rail line) support the strong residential sector; two-thirds of the city’s construction activity is in multi- family buildings, with 6,500 units currently underway, [and] 18 cranes are dedicated to this sector,” the report states, noting work on warehouses, recreation centres, and a large medical building is also underway.
Photo Credit: Flickr user Jeff Mesnil
