Crane numbers up throughout NZ

New Zealand crane numbers are rising. Photo/Greg Bowker

Queenstown's building boom has pushed crane numbers up 600 per cent in the last few months.

The RLB Crane Index, out this month, found the southern tourist mecca had the biggest increase in cranes numbers since earlier this year, followed by Auckland where crane numbers rose 156 per cent, Wellington 83 per cent and Christchurch 14 per cent.

Queenstown has almost double the numbers of cranes since the last survey. Seven cranes could now be seen in the region around Queenstown on six sites, RLB said.

"Both the commercial and civil sectors have each had cranes erected on new projects. Two commercial cranes have commenced on sites at Beach Street and Five Mile Stage
two and two cranes have commenced works at Kawarau Bridge within the civil sector," the survey found.

But people who fear crane numbers are a harbinger of doom shouldn't worry, according to an RLB executive.

Matthew Harris, managing director Rider Levett Bucknall in New South Wales, said people had been predicting that high numbers of cranes on Sydney's skyline could spell problems. But that had not been the case.

The survey showed Auckland continued to be New Zealand's crane hotspot with 64 cranes or 55 per cent of all cranes in the country. The cranes are long term on sites and are fixed tower cranes and long-term heavy crawler cranes.

Chris Haines, Rider Levett Bucknall Auckland director, said people only needed to glance across the city's skyline to see high activity levels.

"We have more cranes in place than any of the 11 US cities that we track with our RLB Crane Index," he said.

In the past six months, 23 new long-term cranes had been erected in Auckland and six had been removed as projects ended, he said.

New cranes were on Anzac Ave, the Wynyard Quarter, Whitaker Pl, Campbell Rd in Onehunga, New North Rd in Eden Terrace, Howe St in Ponsonby, on the corner of Central Rd and New North Rd in Kingsland and in Rosedale. An additional crane was installed on the Alexander Park development, he said.

Read the results here: