'Immense sense of pride': Behind the cranes that help build Phoenix

Yahoo

21-05-2025

The Brief
FOX 10's Lauren Clark chats with Christopher Oehl, president and CEO of ORBIT Industrial Services and Maintenence, about the use of cranes, the different ones, and all the training that goes into operating one.
Cranes are the backbone of building a city, and the operators take pride in their work when they see the skyline full of developments that couldn't be created without them.
PHOENIX - Cranes and crane operators do most of the heavy lifting for construction across the Valley.
FOX 10's Lauren Clark shows us what's needed to work among the clouds and Phoenix skyline, and why what you think you know about cranes is probably wrong.
What they're saying
You can't miss it across the Phoenix skyline – a sea of cranes towering from above.
What does it take to work behind one?
Christopher Oehl would know. He's had a lot of time and experience with cranes.
It's even in his DNA.
"My grandmother in Germany was a crane operator. She was certified in overhead cranes, mobile cranes, tower cranes, she was also a certified rigger," he said.
Now, he's taking the legacy to new heights.
He's the president and CEO of ORBIT Industrial Services and Maintenence, a company that provides training and safety inspections for many cranes across the Valley and world.
If you think you know everything about cranes, think again.
"The average person assumes that cranes are only tower cranes, they're downtown. The world is full of compact equipment. You have these compact spider cranes, you have jib cranes," he explained.
But, no matter the form, it's a job where skill does the heavy lifting.
"The industry calls for 2,000 provable hours before an individual can become certified," Oehl said. "Gobs and gobs of training."
It's where precision is hoisted to the forefront.
"It's very important. The crane is moving every material, every tool, every other aerial equipment that the construction workers need is being put in place for them," Oehl said. "These guys are sitting in hot cabs. Some have air conditioning, some don't. They are sitting in the sun, they are confined."
What does that mean about bathroom breaks?
"On a tower crane back in the day, it used to be a bucket and your helper would help you, and lower it down. Nowadays, they have facilities on board," Oehl said.
While many look at the skyline view and only see giant cranes, Oehl and his operations manager, Jordan Bedard, see a higher calling.
"That is an immense sense of pride. When you see something that wasn't there before, but you are able to install it and know for the next 50 years that is going to be there–and your group got to do that," Bedard said.