Friday roundup: EMR impact, ESTA finalists, SLR50 growth, airport upgrade

Safety is more than a regulatory requirement – it’s critical for business sustainability. On Monday, we discussed how companies invest heavily in safety programmes, worker training and oversight to minimise risk and maintain operational efficiency. Despite these efforts, one number, experience modification rate (EMR), often dictates whether a company can even qualify for a project, in the USA, for example. EMR has evolved into a gatekeeping metric that can determine a company’s eligibility for contracts.

Photo: International Industrial Contracting Corporation

Read more about accurately assessing a company’s safety record.

Tuesday brought you the latest news and moves from across the crane and specialized transport sector with our Crane and Transport Briefing Extra newsletter. The top story this week named the finalists for the 2025 ESTA Awards of Excellence. The European Association of Abnormal Road Transport and Mobile Cranes’ jury of experts has deliberated and drawn up its list of potential winners for this year.

The 2025 Specialized Lifting & Rigging 50 (SLR50) ranking showcases another year of steady growth for the heavy lifting sector. With total capacity rising by more than 200,000 U.S. tons to reach 1.86 million U.S. tons, the Wednesday’s Crane & Transport Briefing highlights how companies are scaling up operations to meet the demands of infrastructure, energy and industrial projects.

See the full 2025 Specialized Lifting & Rigging 50 rankings.

How can a major civilian airport upgrade project be carried out quickly and efficiently without shutting down operations? Mammoet found the answer for a project to widen corridors at Atlanta airport in the USA, detailed in Thursday’s CTB. The Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, USA, is claimed to be the world’s busiest. It accommodates nearly 300,000 travellers every day. Concourse D, built in 1980, had narrow corridors around 5 metres wide and needed a major upgrade to accommodate increasing numbers of people and the daily demands of travel.

Find out how Mammoet made it work without interrupting operations.