About Desrochers Crane Service
From a feature article in Builder/Architect:
If you're anywhere in northern Vermont or New Hampshire, and you need something heavy (or something very, very heavy) lifted, there is only one name you need to know: Desrochers Crane Service of Derby.
They have both the experience and the equipment to do the job.
From modest beginnings more than 30 years ago, Desrochers has added steadily to its line of equipment, and its expertise, to handle a wide variety of lifting assignments.
It all began with the six-ton Scott Midland crane which Real Desrochers used to start his business in 1974.
As sons Robert, Rene and Randy joined the company in the '80s, so did three new, larger cranes, with lifting capacities of 15 tons, 23 tons and 30 tons. These were used for the company's main line of work, raising rafters and steel buildings.
As the prefab building business boomed, Desrochers added two larger cranes to complete their line: a 90-ton machine in 2003 and just this year, in 2005, a Link-Belt 50-ton crane.
Over the years, Desrochers has been instrumental in the completion of a number of
commercial and residential projects in the North Country.
For featured builder Gary Taylor, Desrochers did all the heavy lifting for this month's featured log home.
"You pick up full bents sometimes," explains Robert Desrochers, "so you have to figure out how to do that. They put big sections together, then we put the whole section in place. For that project, we set all the ridge poles and rafters, piece by piece. We enjoy that kind of work. It's interesting."
On another Taylor Made home in Troy, Desrochers hoisted building materials used in a project built down into a gully, where the jobsite was located. The home, described in the cover story article, is built on a ledge along a river, with a set of stairs from the elevated garage down to the home site.
At a new Groveton, NH, sporting goods store, the 90-ton crane was used to lift into place an entire 50x38-foot timber frame facade, containing 554,000 of wood and weighing 13,000 lbs.
In Island Pond, Desrochers used the 90-ton Grove crane, teaming with a Bedford, NH, crane company, to lift both ends of a new 114-foot-long pedestrian bridge, and set it in place over a set of railroad tracks that had separated the villages of Upper and Lower Island Pond since 1974, when the original pedestrian bridge had been torn down due to age.
In 2002, a Desrochers crane was used during a 100-year anniversary remodeling project at St. Mary's Church in Newport, lifting an aerial basket used during the washing and regrouting of large granite blocks.
At Jay Peak, Desrochers has participated in numerous projects, including lifting and removing 60-person capacity cars from the old tramway and replacing them with new, larger, more modern cars.
"Our 50-ton crane is at Jay Peak right now," says Robert, "lifting rafters and panels for new condo and townhouse units. We've also been lifting cement blocks weighing up to 4,200 lbs. for firewalls into the units."
You may reach Desrochers by calling (800) 287-4732.