Rigger Level II: Planning the Picks Nobody Has Done Before

Topics in this prep

• Estimating weight from dimensions and material densities
• Locating the center of gravity on irregular loads
• Leg tension in two-, three- and four-leg bridles
• Selecting lift points and judging their condition
• Spreader bars, lifting beams and equalizing gear
• Turning, tilting and upending loads with control
• Load dynamics: shock loading, swing and wind area
• Rigging for multiple-crane and tandem lifts
• Pre-lift checks and talking through the plan with the operator

Estimating what nobody wrote down

Much of the Level II written exam is applied arithmetic. You will calculate the volume of a steel plate, a pipe section or a concrete block, multiply by a material weight, and add up components to get a total. Then you locate the center of gravity, figure each sling leg's share of the load when the hook is not centered over the balance point, and account for the extra tension that comes with shallow sling angles.

Alaska jobs reward that skill. Equipment shipped to a remote site may arrive with no paperwork, or with paperwork that does not include the insulation, fluids, packed snow or frozen-in mud riding along with it. A Level II rigger is expected to catch those gaps before the hook takes tension.

• Volume and weight of common shapes
• Center of gravity by moments
• Leg loads when slings are unequal in length
• Sling angle factors and when to add a spreader

Modules, ice roads and a short open-water season

North Slope development leans heavily on modular construction: large pieces built elsewhere, shipped north during the summer open-water window and set in place on site. Federal planning documents for ConocoPhillips' Willow project, for example, describe sealift barges carrying prefabricated modules to Oliktok Dock, with offshore lightering and then heavy-haul travel over gravel and ice roads to the development area.

Each handoff along that chain is a rigging problem: lifting from a barge deck, setting on transporters, offloading at a pad. The lifts involve tall loads with high centers of gravity, multiple lift points and often more than one crane. Level II content on equalizing gear, load turning and tandem rigging maps directly onto this kind of work, even though the exam itself is national and not about any one project.

Rigging on a deck that moves

Upper Cook Inlet has some of the largest tides in North America; the mean range at Anchorage is roughly 26 feet, and Turnagain Arm averages about 30. A barge tied at a dock can rise or drop several feet during a single long pick, which changes hook height, sling angles and the clearance between load and deck. Southeast Alaska, Kodiak and Bristol Bay add swell and wind to the mix.

On these jobs a Level II rigger thinks about timing the lift to the tide, how much the load can swing, and how tag lines will be handled from a deck that is not level. One note on jurisdiction: private-sector dock, marine terminal and longshoring work generally falls under federal OSHA's maritime standards rather than AKOSH and Subpart CC, so check which rules apply to your employer before assuming.

How the Level II exams work

Level II has a written exam and a practical exam, and both must be passed. Candidates can sit for Level I and Level II at the same time, but the Level II card is valid only while Level I is current, so keep the two renewal dates in view together. The practical asks you to work out a load's balance point, choose gear, rig with more than one hitch type and keep the load under control through the lift. Book it through the certifier and expect to travel to wherever the test is scheduled, often Anchorage or Fairbanks.

Our course prepares you for the written portion. Hands-on rehearsal for the practical needs real loads and gear, so work it into your job or arrange time with your employer.