An overhead crane — also called a bridge crane, overhead bridge crane, ceiling crane or indoor crane — runs a hoist along a bridge that travels on runway beams fixed to the building structure, clearing the floor for the highest repeatable lifts in a plant. Single-girder designs handle lighter, everyday production duty; double-girder designs carry heavier loads and longer spans with greater hook height. Kranes supplies, installs and services top-running and under-running overhead cranes, plus the wire-rope and chain hoists that ride them — complete overhead crane solutions from one supplier. Send your capacity, span, lift height and duty class and we quote a system built to CSA B167 — with inspection, repair and replacement parts available coast to coast.
Overhead cranes split into two broad families. A single-girder bridge crane carries one beam and an underhung hoist for everyday production duty, while a double-girder overhead crane runs the hoist on top of two beams for heavier loads, longer spans and the maximum hook height in the building. Top-running cranes ride rails above the runway for the heaviest service; under-running (underhung) cranes hang from the runway flange to save headroom and feed monorail spurs into adjacent bays. Workstation and monorail systems extend the same principle to lighter, repetitive moves.
Because the bridge is fixed to the building, an overhead crane — the indoor or ceiling crane many plants simply call their bridge crane — keeps the whole floor clear for production while still reaching any point in the bay. That makes it the backbone of steel service centres, fabrication shops, assembly lines, foundries and warehouses across Canada. Industrial overhead crane duty is rated by class, from standby maintenance hoists to severe round-the-clock cycles, and Kranes specifies the class your process actually runs so the crane is neither under-built nor overpriced.
Sizing an overhead crane comes down to capacity, span, lift height and duty class, plus the building steel available to carry the runway. From those numbers Kranes engineers a complete overhead crane solution — bridge, end trucks, hoist, controls and runway — or retrofits a new hoist and controls onto an existing structure. Buy when the crane is core to daily production; we also handle new-runway installation, relocation and capacity upgrades. Every build is documented to CSA B167, the Canadian standard for overhead and gantry equipment.
Once it is running, an overhead crane needs scheduled inspection, the occasional repair and a reliable parts supply to stay safe and certified. Kranes load-tests and certifies cranes, aligns runways, and stocks overhead crane parts and components — wire rope, hoists, brakes, motors, festoon, conductor bar, end trucks, wheels and controls — for every make, including older units other suppliers no longer support. Send your capacity, span and duty class, or a photo of a worn part, and we respond with a quote and availability coast to coast.