Crane Exam Prep for Conway's College-Town Construction Market

Who builds and who hires

A 2023 list of Conway's largest employers published by a local outlet put the University of Central Arkansas at about 1,600 workers and Acxiom at about 1,450, followed by Virco, the school-furniture maker that has run a Conway plant since 1950, and Nabholz, a construction company with roughly 550 local employees. Hendrix College and Central Baptist College round out the three-college identity.

Nabholz matters for crane people because a contractor of that size runs self-perform crews and hires subcontractors across the region. UCA and Hendrix generate a steady flow of residence halls, academic buildings, athletics work and campus utility upgrades, which call for everything from boom trucks setting chillers to larger hydraulic cranes on structural steel.

Campus lifts are their own animal

A college site during the semester is full of students who walk wherever they want, often with earbuds in. Laydown areas are tight, deliveries are restricted to certain hours, and swing paths may cross sidewalks that cannot be fully closed. A good lift plan here spells out barricades, spotters and timing around class changes.

Those situations line up with what the written exams test: controlling the fall zone, recognizing when a signal person is required, and knowing that the operator stops when anyone gives an emergency stop signal. Studying with real campus scenarios in mind makes the material stick.

Roads and retail along I-40

ARDOT widened 23 miles of I-40 between Conway and North Little Rock from four to six lanes, a job that was wrapping up in 2013. In 2016 the department finished a $9.4 million reconfiguration at the I-40/U.S. 65B interchange with two roundabouts on Dave Ward Drive, built alongside the $65 million Lewis Crossing shopping center. The city also signed an agreement with the state in 2009 for a future interchange tied to its western arterial loop.

Retail pads and interchange work mean tilt-up panels, steel canopies, sign structures and box culverts, mostly handled by mobile hydraulic cranes and boom trucks.

Planning tips specific to Faulkner County sites

• Watch for Arkansas River bottomland soils south of town; they behave differently from the upland clay near campus.
• Spring tornado season hits Faulkner County hard; build a weather stop into every lift plan.
• Summer afternoons can push heat index readings high enough to justify early-morning lifting.
• Check for overhead lines along older residential streets near downtown before setting up.

Certification requirements

Conway contractors work under federal OSHA, handled by the Little Rock Area Office, because Arkansas has no State Plan and does not license crane operators. Under 29 CFR 1926.1427, operators of covered cranes need accredited certification and an employer evaluation. Riggers and signal persons must be qualified under their own sections of Subpart CC. Our requirements guide covers the details.

You can take NCCCO written exams through Online Proctored Testing, at a test center, or at an event. The practical always happens on a crane at a practical test site.