Navajo County Crane Certification: Plateau to White Mountains

From coal units to gas turbines at Cholla

The Cholla Generating Station in Joseph City, between Holbrook and Winslow, burned coal from 1962 until its last two units shut down in March 2025. Arizona Public Service has since proposed converting two of the former coal units to natural gas, with construction starting around 2028 and new units online in 2029, subject to approval by state regulators.

If the conversion proceeds, it will bring a multi-year round of heavy lifting: turbine and generator components, transformers, structural steel and piping, plus demolition of equipment that is no longer needed. Projects like this rely on certified operators, Level 2 riggers and trained signal persons.

Rail, interstate and the White Mountains

Interstate 40 and the BNSF transcontinental line run side by side through Winslow, Joseph City and Holbrook, so rail and highway structure work is a constant. In the south, Show Low, Pinetop-Lakeside, Snowflake and Taylor draw both year-round residents and summer visitors escaping the Phoenix heat. Summit Healthcare in Show Low is one of the region's larger employers, and residential, medical and commercial construction keeps truck cranes busy in the warmer months.

The White Mountain Apache Tribe's Fort Apache Reservation also lies in the southern county, and tribal infrastructure, housing and community building projects add work for local crews.

On the plateau north of I-40, Navajo Nation and Hopi communities including Kayenta, Second Mesa and others see clinic, school, housing and water projects. These sites are often hours from the nearest crane rental yard, so equipment arrives on long hauls and crews stay on site for extended periods. Operators who can read a lift plan, set up on unimproved ground and work with a signal person they have just met are valuable on this kind of work.

Picking the right course

• Mobile crane operator for power plant and structure work
• Rigger Level 2 for engineered lifts during plant conversion
• Digger derrick operator for line crews in forested country
• Articulating crane operator for building supply deliveries in the White Mountains

Cold mornings, wind and test trips

Show Low sits above 6,000 feet, with snow most winters and freezing mornings well into spring. Winslow and Holbrook are lower and drier but often windy, and spring gusts across the open plateau can exceed safe limits for crane work. Ice on loads, frozen ground under outriggers and cold-weather equipment checks are all things to master.

Navajo County candidates typically head to the Phoenix metro for practical exams, about three hours from Show Low or Winslow, and look for computer-based written testing as close to home as possible. Bundle both exams into one trip and avoid winter storm days on SR 260 and SR 87.