With the expertise and equipment to design and deliver the most effective lifting solution for every site, Gabriel O’Brien Crane Hire Ltd. are firmly established as Ireland’s premier heavy lift engineers. Building Ireland touched base with director Conor O’Brien to get an update on an industry-leading, family-run business which has been consistently reaching new heights since 1989.
The sky is the limit for Gabriel O’Brien Crane Hire Ltd. – one of Ireland’s longest-established crane hire companies, which brings together the expertise of modern engineering and a wealth of experience accumulated across the decades, not to mention a vast fleet of specialist heavy lifting equipment that enables them to formulate and execute a safe and professional lifting solution for every conceivable situation.
Engineering expertise is at the heart of the company, which was founded in 1989 by Leitrim native Gabriel O’Brien, who started out with one 15-tonne mobile crane to his name. Today, Gabriel runs the renowned family business alongside his son Conor and they currently oversee a magnificent, modern, pristinely-maintained fleet of 56 cranes
Such is the nature of the specialist services provided that the fleet is constantly being increased, improved and replenished to make sure that clients are offered the most innovative, professional and cost-effective solutions at all times.
In order to provide tailor-made heavy lifting operations on a variety of sites throughout Ireland and the UK, investment in the fleet is a prerequisite and, to this end, Gabriel O’Brien Crane Hire is currently home to Ireland’s only self-propelled modular transporter (SPMT) and Ireland’s largest crawler crane.
Only last year a new Liebherr LG1750 mobile crane was acquired and the fleet upgrades have continued unabated. “It’s an ongoing process,” Conor confirms. “The 1,200-tonne mobile crane we purchased is the biggest mobile crane in the UK and we’ve also added two new 360-degree telehandlers and a new 700-tonne mobile crane this year. These new cranes are more for energy-related work – windmills and transformers, etc. – which is an area where we are getting busier.”
Gabriel O’Brien Crane Hire offer machinery, full lift and shift solutions, and personnel to a variety of industries throughout Ireland and the UK. Their comprehensive range of mobile cranes, crawler cranes, hiabs, mobile towers and spider cranes go from the aforementioned units down to 3.5-tonne spider cranes that can easily access the tightest of spaces.
These are used in a wide variety of both onshore and offshore industries, including construction as well as the oil and wind energy sectors.
A comprehensive service is provided, from free site inspections right through to the execution of a lift, including detailed pre-planning, fully qualified operatives and an unrivalled attention to detail.
Across the process of each lift, the company’s exceptional engineering expertise shines through. Once the site inspection has been completed, Gabriel O’Brien Crane Hire will go about putting a plan in place to complete lifts both safely and efficiently. This plan includes RAMS (Risk Assessment Method Statement), 3D CAD drawings and the delegation of qualified personnel to carry out even the most challenging of lifts. All personnel are certified in both Ireland and the UK, and equipped for manual handling and working at heights.
Demand for Gabriel O’Brien Crane Hire’s services is such that up to 90 per cent of the crane fleet is out on sites across Ireland and the UK on any given day. “As we speak, we have cranes on sites all around the city and we have ten units over in the UK as well,” Conor confirms. “We have all our own trucks and trailers for transporting the cranes and we’re also doing quite a bit of work for modular homes at the moment – both transportation and craneage.”
Over the years, Gabriel has earned a stellar reputation for invariably providing the best solution for every job, regardless of size or complexity. His determination to afford his full, undivided attention, knowledge and expertise to every lift is reflected in the company motto of ‘anyplace, anywhere, anytime’.
Working regularly for a who’s who of Tier One main contractors on high-profile sites nationwide and beyond, Gabriel O’Brien Crane Hire have proven themselves time and time again as innovative, pioneering heavy logistics engineers, from the tower at Dublin Airport to pulling bridges for Irish Rail and more recently the spectacular new Galway City Salmon Weir Pedestrian and Cycle Bridge, to mention just a few.
For any complex heavy lift job, they can investigate fully and come up with a plan that is guaranteed to work through the deployment of great equipment operated by great people with unrivalled skills and expertise.
“Without our wonderful staff, we wouldn’t have a successful business,” says Conor. “We have 85 employees at the moment and can count ourselves very fortunate to have an excellent crew of people. As the fleet and the company continue to grow, there are always new opportunities and we’re always on the look-out for the right people to join our team.”
In construction, Gabriel O’Brien Crane Hire have maintained long-standing relationships with all the leading main contractors the length and breadth of the island. Ongoing repeat business with industry leaders in Ireland and the UK is testament to the quality of both the machinery and lift solutions provided.
“You name them, we have worked for them,” says Conor. “The bricks and mortar boys are our bread and butter and they have all been great customers and a pleasure to work with. We’ve been with Walls and BAM for 35 years as well as Sisk, Collen, Mercury Engineering, Cosgraves and many, many more. Flood Construction is another fantastic customer and then you have all the energy guys, too…”
By being extremely flexible, versatile and responsive, Gabriel O’Brien Crane Hire are perfectly placed to continue providing unbeatable heavy lifting solutions to the construction, civil engineering and energy sectors. “We like to think we have something for everybody – a solution to fit every job,” Conor concludes. “We have a good mix of cranes and all our own lifts and tackle, with an excellent in-house team who always get the job done and never let the customer down.”
By all accounts, Gabriel O’Brien Crane Hire remains very much on an upward trajectory!
Gabriel O’Brien Crane Hire Ltd.,
Unit 6,
Red Cow Business Park,
Naas Road,
Dublin 22,
D22 TR50.
Tel: 01 4595500
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.gobriencranes.ie
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, December 2023, Vol 9 No 12
