A single girder bridge crane is the cheapest way to put powered lifting over a rectangular bay, and it is still the crane we quote most often for workshops, warehouses and maintenance areas in Southeast Asia. One box girder carries a wire rope hoist underneath, the whole bridge runs along two runway beams on your building columns, and the hoist travels across the span. That is the entire machine — which is why it costs less, weighs less on your building, and can be installed in a week rather than a month.
The bridge is a single welded box girder in Q235B or Q345B plate, cambered during fabrication so it stays straight when the hoist and load hang on it. On each end there is an end carriage with two or four forged wheels, driven by a geared motor through a shaft or directly on the wheel. The hoist — normally a CD1 single-speed or MD1 two-speed wire rope hoist — runs along the bottom flange of the girder on a trolley with its own travel motor, so the hook can reach anywhere in the rectangle.
The bridge travels along two runway beams that you install on the building columns. Those runway beams and the rail are not part of the crane; we supply the crane and the rail clips, and we will give you the wheel load and the rail size so your steel fabricator or contractor can size the runway and the columns correctly. This is the single most common thing buyers get wrong, so we do it in writing before you pay anything.
Power comes down from the runway by flat cable on a C-rail, or by a festoon system with trolleys, into the crane's control panel. From the panel, cables run in a festoon along the bridge to the hoist. Standard supply is 380 V / 50 Hz three-phase; 400 V, 415 V, 440 V / 60 Hz and other voltages are wound on request for the destination country.
If your loads are under about 20 t, your span is under 30 m, your building has a normal industrial roof structure, and the crane is not running production shifts all day, a single girder machine does the job for noticeably less money. Typical installations we quote:
What these have in common is intermittent duty: the crane lifts, travels, sets down and waits. If your cycle is continuous, if the hook is in the air all shift, or if the load is over 20 t, step up to a double girder crane — a single girder machine doing heavy-duty work will not last, and the wheel loads on your building get uncomfortable.
Almost every quotation problem comes from an incomplete specification. Send us these four numbers and we can price the crane the same day:
Send a photo or a drawing of the bay and we will check it against the numbers. If you are replacing an existing crane, a photo of the nameplate tells us more than a page of description.
We are a supplier, not the factory: your crane is built by one of our long-term partner factories in Changyuan, and we tell you which one. That is exactly why the inspection step exists — we watch the machine being built and tested rather than forwarding a catalogue.
Worth it: variable-frequency (VFD) control on the hoist and travels, which gives you stepless slow speeds for positioning and stops the load swinging on every start; a second brake on the hoist for ladles, hot metal or anything over a walkway; radio remote with a pendant as backup; an overload limiter with a digital display the operator can actually read; hot-dip galvanizing or a heavy epoxy paint system for humid coastal sites.
Usually unnecessary on a single girder crane: full cabin control, dual hoists, and very high travel speeds. Those belong on a double girder machine, and paying for them here just buys you a heavier bridge without the benefit.
Cheaper than you expect: an extra 2 m of span, a galvanized finish, or a spare set of brake pads shipped in the same container. Ask for them at the quotation stage — adding them later means a second shipment.
| Capacity | 1 t, 2 t, 3 t, 5 t, 10 t, 16 t, 20 t (intermediate capacities on request) |
|---|---|
| Span | 7.5 m – 30 m (standard series); wider spans quoted individually |
| Lifting height | 6 m – 24 m |
| Duty classification | A3–A5 (FEM 1Am–1Bm, ISO M3–M5) |
| Hoist type | CD1 single speed / MD1 two speed wire rope hoist; low-headroom European hoist optional |
| Hoisting speed | 8 / 0.8 m·min⁻¹ (two speed) or 0.5–8 m·min⁻¹ stepless with VFD |
| Bridge travel speed | 20 m·min⁻¹ standard; 30–45 m·min⁻¹ with VFD |
| Trolley travel speed | 20 m·min⁻¹ standard; VFD optional |
| Power supply | 380 V / 50 Hz, 3-phase standard — other voltages and 60 Hz on request |
| Control | Pendant (IP54) as standard; radio remote, or pendant plus remote |
| Working class temperature | −20 °C to +40 °C (cold or tropical versions on request) |
| Paint | Two coats primer + two coats finish; hot-dip galvanizing or epoxy system optional |
The table shows the range we normally supply. Your offer states the exact capacity, span, lifting height, duty class and voltage for your site — and where a figure in this table differs from the offer, the offer prevails. Send us your requirement and we will confirm each line in writing before you order.
Three things push you to double girder: capacity above roughly 20 t, spans beyond about 30 m, or continuous heavy-duty work where the crane runs all shift. A double girder crane also gives you a higher hook position (the hoist sits on top of the girders, so you lift closer to the roof), two hooks on one crane, and easier maintenance access to the hoist. For everything else, single girder is cheaper to buy, cheaper to install, and lighter on your building. If you are near the boundary, send us the duty and we will tell you honestly which one we would quote.
The runway is the structure the crane travels on. It is built into your building, so we do not ship it; your local steel fabricator makes it. What we do is give you the finished data: wheel load per corner, recommended rail section, the distance from the rail centre to the wall, and the clearance envelope. If you send us your building drawing, we can mark up exactly where the runway goes before you fabricate anything.
A single girder crane up to about 16 t is normally installed in 3–7 days by a competent local erector with a mobile crane. We supply a step-by-step installation drawing and, if you want, an erection-and-commissioning supervisor who travels to site. For Vietnam and most of Southeast Asia, a supervisor visit is usually easier and cheaper than trying to work it out from documents, especially if it is your first crane.
We do not publish prices, because the same "5 t crane" can differ by 40% depending on span, lifting height, duty class, hoist type, voltage, and how much automation you want. Tell us capacity, span, lifting height and duty, and we will send a priced offer with the technical specification attached, normally within 24 hours. Prices are FOB or CIF — say which port, and whether the crane must fit into a container or can ship break-bulk.
Yes, with the right specification. Tell us if the site supply is unstable: we can fit a wider input range on the panel, add phase-failure and under-voltage protection, and choose hoist motors that tolerate voltage drop better. Generators are common on remote sites and we quote for them regularly — the failure mode to avoid is a VFD tripping on every start, which is a specification problem, not a crane problem.
Heavy duty and long spans: steel fabrication, precast yards, smelters, heavy machining shops.
5–100 t · custom spanOutdoor stockyards, precast beds, container and aggregate handling. Hook, grab or C-hook.
3–100 t · rail or tyreLaunching gantries and bridge erection machines for road and rail viaduct projects.
Project-engineeredSend capacity, span and lifting height and we will reply with a specification and a price within 24 hours.
We quote from 4–5 long-term partner factories in Changyuan, Henan. You will know which one is building your crane, our inspectors test it before shipment, and the drawings, test report and manuals travel with the machine. More about how we work →
Crane type, capacity (t), span (m) and lifting height (m) is usually enough for us to quote. Send a photo of your workshop if you are not sure.
