Adelaide’s skyline is bustling with a record number of tower cranes as significant housing and commercial projects progress throughout the city.
The Q1 2025 RLB Crane Index reports that currently, there are 19 tower cranes in operation across Adelaide. These cranes are distributed among various projects, with nine dedicated to residential, six to commercial, two to health, one for a hotel, and another for a mixed-use site at Bowden.
The bi-annual Crane Index indicates that construction activity in Adelaide has nearly doubled compared to the levels seen in 2020 and 2021. This surge can be attributed to new cranes added to housing projects such as the Junction Housing development at Tonsley, Uniting on Second, and Lot 6003 at Bowden. Additionally, cranes are also in place at the new Women’s & Children’s Hospital site and for the Modbury Hospital Carpark build.
This increase in cranes mirrors the national trend in construction activity. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported a 2.7 per cent increase in construction activity across Australia, with residential activity also up by 2.7 per cent.
One of the cranes is currently aiding the construction of the East Rundle development in Kent Town. The structural phase has been completed on this six-storey, 47-apartment development by Palumbo.
Further developments are expected to commence soon in areas such as Prospect, Seaton, Lot Fourteen, and Festival Plaza.
Nick Champion, Minister for Housing and Urban Development, remarked, “A crane is a symbol of progress. Wherever you look across our city, there’s more construction activity going on than ever before. Strategic infill development will continue to play an important role in increasing the housing supply in our city, and we have a number of exciting projects that will kick off in the future, which will see even more cranes in Adelaide’s skyline.”