When the Wind Fights Back: A Tale of an Award-Winning Lift
t started underground—literally.
At the McCarrons Water Treatment Plant in Minnesota, PCL Construction crews were tasked with an unusually difficult lift: lowering massive formwork panels through a tight, reinforced structure with only two inches of clearance on either side. When the wind picked up, those panels turned into sails, twisting and spinning in midair, threatening both precision and safety.
That’s when PCL turned to Vita Industrial.
Rather than accept the challenge as “part of the job,” PCL used our Vita Load Navigator (VLN), the industry-trusted semi-autonomous, propulsion-driven lifting device, to stabilize the panels while keeping their team safe under the windy conditions.
The project stayed on track and the collaboration caught the industry's attention. The McCarrons project has now been recognized with the 2025 Innovation Spotlight Digital Products Award, celebrating technologies that are reshaping how we design, build, and work in the modern built environment.
Turning Challenge into Control
In construction, the smallest variable, like a gust of wind, rain, or freezing temperatures, can change everything. Traditionally, teams have relied on taglines and manual coordination, dangerous, high-pressure tasks that leave little margin for error. Weather variables often halt operations entirely for the sake of safety.
The Vita Load Navigator changes that. Mounted beneath the crane hook, the VLN uses precision thrusters and GPS-based stabilization to hold and rotate loads in real time. Constantly analyzing more than 1,000 data points every second, it keeps materials steady, even when conditions are less than ideal.
For the McCarrons team, the difference was clear. Fewer workers were needed inside the confined space, each lift cycle was completed in a fraction of the time, and crews maintained pinpoint accuracy without stepping into the danger zone. What once took 20 minutes now took five, and progress continued safely, even when the wind refused to cooperate.
Recognition for Progress
While the Building Transformations Innovation Spotlight Award celebrates this project, it also represents a broader shift happening across the construction industry, where digital tools are not replacing people, but protecting them.
As projects grow taller and more complex, one thing won’t change: the need to keep workers safe while delivering with precision. The Vita Load Navigator brings that balance to life, giving crane operators and crews confidence that each lift will be as controlled as it is efficient.
For Vita Industrial, this award is more than recognition; it’s a reminder of why the work matters.
