On home ground 21 April 2021 Self-erecting tower cranes have established themselves as the lifting machinery of choice for housebuilding in Europe. Julian Champkin looks at their advantages. Self-erecting cranes are a usual sight when driving around parts of Europe. You will occasionally see them working on infrastructure projects, but predominantly you will see them performing lifts for the construction of houses and low-rise buildings. Certain characteristics of these machines make them ideal for housebuilding. “The great thing about hydraulic self-erecting cranes is that they are easy, safe and fast to erect,” says Martin Gralki of Eurogru, summing up their advantages in a sentence.