See Iowa City from 250 feet off the ground

There's a joke going around town that sums up the construction boom well on the University of Iowa campus and beyond: We don't have an official bird. But if we did, it would be the tower crane.

Today there are 10 or so such cranes stretching their necks above the city during this unprecedented surge in construction, which includes several large-scale UI flood-recovery projects.

One of the tallest cranes stands on the corner of Clinton and Burlington streets in downtown Iowa City — the future home of UI's new School of Music. It measures 220 feet from the ground to the deck, and 240 feet to its top-most point — or about a 10-minute climb for the crane operator each morning at the start of his shift.

It's the taller of two cranes in use at the School of Music site, and rivals the crane across the river at the new UI Children's Hospital site.

On Wednesday morning, Rod Lehnertz, UI's director of planning, design and construction, scaled the series of ladders to the top of the crane to survey construction progress firsthand, and the Press-Citizen sent a video camera with him to capture the view.

From up top, Lehnertz had a unique, bird's-eye perspective of the work underway to reshape campus, as well as the School of Music site below as it inches toward its 2016 completion.

Also See: Firefighters dangle above job site during crane rescue training

Lehnertz, who was accompanied by the lead safety engineer for the project, said he doesn't have a fear of heights, fortunately.

"One might imagine that the tower might sway in the wind," Lehnertz said in an email afterward. "Not so — the design accounts for the wind loads, and instead the movement you feel is more of a circular oscillation. This feels a little odd at first, but I was quickly told, 'This is normal!'

"There is more wind at that height, even on a calm day, which makes wind an important part of the planning for work related to the crane. I will say, as seen from the images, it was quite a view."

The crane operators typically head to the top each morning at the start of their shift and spend eight to 10 hours there. They haul their lunch up with them, and stay in contact with the crew below via radio.

"A trip to the top also gives one a great appreciation for the professional crane operators who spend their work days perched over the project site, making efficient completion of the project possible," Lehnertz said in the email. "Their training for this role is considerable."

— Josh O'Leary