Spreader Beams a Top Choice for Rigging Stability and Safety

The spreader beam, also known as a spreader bar, is a popular below-the-hook lifting device used to widen lifting points and stabilize and support a load during a crane lift. It consists of a long horizontal beam, or bar, that holds two or more slings apart and converts lifting loads into compressive forces on the bar and tensile forces on the slings. At the top of the beam, chains or slings attach to two suspension points that angle up to a single central ring. Spreader beams should not be confused with lifting beams, which have a single central attachment point at the top of the beam that attaches to a crane or hoist hook. 

Spreader beams provide a number of advantages over lifting beams. Because they depend on more-efficient compression forces as opposed to bending forces, they are typically smaller, lighter, and less expensive than lifting beams. Two lifting points mean that the weight of a load is distributed evenly across the beam rather than at a single point, reducing the risk of the load tipping, sliding, or bending, and helping to prevent crushing or damaging the load. This makes spreader beams a good choice for rigging wide and heavy-duty loads. Four-point box spreader beams are ideal for handling large loads with an offset center of gravity, and telescoping spreader beams provide versatility for loads of varying sizes. As for disadvantages, spreader beams require more headroom than lifting beams to accommodate the overhead slings and are not ideal for rigging applications with height restraints. Also, loads that require support along their entire length may be better accommodated by a lifting beam.

Safety is R. Baker & Son’s top priority on every crane rigging operation. All of our rigging personnel including in-house master riggers and skilled rigging tradesmen are expertly trained in the safe use of all rigging equipment including spreader beams and lifting beams.

About R. Baker & Son All Industrial Services

R. Baker & Son All Industrial Services, a Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE), in business since 1935, is a premier specialized contractor operating in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, with over one hundred employees and an exemplary safety record (we have been directly involved in four sites that received VPP OSHA Safety Awards). R. Baker & Son is financially strong, with bonding capabilities of over $10 million. Capabilities include industrial and commercial demolition, rigging, machinery- and plant-moving, dismantling, decommissioning, plant and equipment relocation, interior demolition, selective demolition, warehousing, wrecking and razing, millwright, plant reconfigurations, heavy rigging, salvage, environmental services, remediation, decontamination, abatement, and investment and asset recovery.

R. Baker & Son - All Industrial Services
190 Boundary Road
Marlboro, NJ 07746
732-222-3553

https://www.rbaker.com