Australia continues to witness robust construction crane activity, with Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast leading the charge, as per the latest findings unveiled by Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB) in itsQ1 2024 RLB Crane Index.
“The Australian construction industry remains buoyant with 869 cranes on sites nationally,” Domenic Schiafone, Rider Levett Bucknall’s Oceania Director of Research and Development said.
“The Q1 2024 RLB Crane Index has recorded the second highest count in the 24 editions of the index. This editions’ value is the 2nd highest in the history of RLB Crane Index.
“The large number of cranes observed correlates with national construction activity. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, total construction activity across Australia for the 2023 calendar year was up by nine per cent, or $21bn, compared to 2022,” he said.
Among the 869 cranes observed across Australia, 309 dotted the Sydney skyline, followed by Melbourne with 194.
Brisbane boasted 78 cranes, while the Gold Coast saw 61 in action. Perth registered 45 cranes, Canberra 26, Adelaide 17, and the Sunshine Coast and Newcastle each recorded 16. Meanwhile, Wollongong and the Central Coast each had 12 cranes in operation, Hobart had two and Darwin showed no crane activity.
Four cities recorded higher crane numbers for Q1 2024 compared to six months prior (Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne and Newcastle). Melbourne was the only city that gained more than 10 cranes.
The highest number of cranes on a site in Australia was the Amazon Fulfilment Centre in Melbourne with seven cranes.
“When comparing current and historical crane numbers for Melbourne, Sydney and nationally, Melbourne bounced back after falling for the two previous counts,” Mr Schiafone said.
“Melbourne’s count of 194 cranes has climbed above the average number of cranes in Melbourne of 175 since Q1 2015.
“Current crane numbers in Sydney and nationally are well above their respective averages of 310 and 708,” he said.
Sydney’s RLB Crane Index dipped by three per cent from its peak level in the previous edition (248 index points) to 241 index points.
The gap between Sydney and Melbourne crane numbers continues to be wide with 196 cranes between the two. The projects with the largest number of cranes in Sydney include:
- Vicinti and Destination (Macquarie Park, five cranes)
- Tallawong Village (Tallawong, four cranes)
- New Sydney Fish Markets (Glebe, four cranes)
- Randwick Campus Redevelopment (Randwick, four cranes)
- Westconnex (Rockdale, four cranes,)
- Western Sydney Airport (Badgerys Creek, four cranes)
- Powerhouse Parramatta (Parramatta, four cranes).
According to RLB, Melbourne recorded a nine per cent jump in crane numbers for this edition.
Overall, Melbourne saw net crane increases in the civil sector (up nine), data centres (up four), mixed use (up five), residential (up 13) and retail (up one).
Some of these projects include the Westgate Tunnel, North East Link, Level Crossing Removals and the Metro Tunnel project, all of which are all contributing to a record number of civil cranes. The current number of 32 civil cranes is above the previous sector high of 23 cranes in Q3 2021.
“The residential index fell from the record high of 178 in the last edition by four index points to 174 points,” Mr Schiafone said.
“The index represents 540 cranes, down from 553 in the last count. 210 cranes were added to residential projects, with 223 removed from sites.”
“The non-residential index remained steady at 286 points. There are 329 cranes on non-residential sites—the same total as in Q3 2023. The non-residential proportion of cranes across the country is 38 per cent, up slightly from the 37 per cent recorded in the last count,” he said.