Knots and Rigging for Construction workshop

The need to lift heavy loads arises constantly on a construction site. The usual reaction is to stand back and wait for the crane or the forklift to do the work. But wouldn’t you love to know how to manage the lifting and manoeuvring of heavy loads with ropes and human power?

This workshop is about learning how to lift or lower heavy loads and stand up something really tall without a crane. The workshop will cover the physics of doing this on paper, and then we’ll do it hands-on.

In this workshop, you’ll learn how to design a lift, how to calculate rope length and weight ratios, rope care, maintenance and safety and common rope mistakes. You’ll learn how to use slings, biners, pulleys and braking devices.

You will also learn some of the essential knots to know on a construction site, including alpine butterfly, double fisherman’s, figure 8, prussik and blake’s hitch, icicle hitch and clove hitch.

This workshop will be taught by Steve Massey. Steve is Construction Coordinator for the television show Income Property. He is a graduate of the Fleming Sustainable Design and Construction program. He has over 25 years of rigging experience in construction, motion pictures and rock climbing and is mostly still alive.