Belle Glade Crane Prep for Mill, Levee and Farm Work

Mill season and off-season

The Everglades Agricultural Area around Belle Glade, South Bay and Clewiston produces most of Florida's cane sugar. Mills run hard through the harvest, roughly fall into spring, and then go into an off-season repair period when contractors come in to rebuild mill rolls, boilers, gearboxes, conveyors and structural steel.

Off-season lifts are heavy and awkward: large castings, shafts and drive components inside or between existing structures, often with limited room for the crane and plenty of other trades nearby. Operators on these jobs work from detailed lift plans, and the riggers need to handle heavy, dense loads with odd pick points. Rigger Level 2 fits that kind of work.

The dike, the canals and the pump stations

Belle Glade's history is tied to the lake. The 1928 Okeechobee hurricane drove lake water over the towns along the southern shore and killed thousands of people, and the response was the Herbert Hoover Dike, which now surrounds the lake. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spent years on a major rehabilitation of the dike, replacing culverts and building cutoff walls.

Pump stations, spillways and canal structures throughout the area are maintained by the Corps and the South Florida Water Management District. That work puts cranes on top of levees and next to deep canals, where the ground can be narrow and soft. Operators need to understand ground bearing, crane mats and the hazards of setting up near a slope.

• Muck soils settle under load and get worse after rain.
• Levee crowns are narrow; check outrigger footprint before mobilizing.
• Lightning is frequent over the open fields in summer.

Farms, packing houses and utility lines

Vegetable and sod farms, packing houses and equipment dealers around the Glades use boom trucks and service cranes for irrigation pumps, engines, cooling units and metal buildings. Rural power lines cross the fields and line the roads, so 29 CFR 1926.1408's clearance rules matter on almost every setup. A service truck crane course suits the mechanics who maintain farm and mill equipment in the field.

Preparing from the Glades

Traveling for training is a real cost out here, which is the main reason to study online. Our courses are self-paced and open on a phone, tablet or laptop at any hour, so you can study during the slow months and test when you are ready. NCCCO written exams can be taken through online proctoring, which avoids a drive to the coast, or at a test center. The practical exam must be done hands-on at an approved site, so plan that trip once you are ready. Florida has no state or local crane license; certification plus your employer's evaluation is what OSHA requires on construction work.

Sugar companies and contractors can enroll a group of operators and riggers through the enrollment form, and an enrollment advisor will reply.