TYPICAL CRANE ACCIDENT: OVERLOADING OF THE CRANE CAUSES TIPPING OF THE CRANE OR COLLAPSE OF THE BOOM
Recent Examples
12/12/2014 - Oslo,
Norway
A large loader crane
tipped into a building in central Oslo on Wednesday trapping one of the men
working on the site.
The crane
was lifting materials into a building
The crane was set up
outside of the TGI Fridays restaurant with the outrigger jacks inboard, it then
telescoped a load of building materials into the building between two glass
facades with an almost horizontal boom. The crane, a mid-size Fassi, then lost
stability and tipped.
The trapped man, 53,
was freed and rushed to hospital, where he was found not to be too seriously
injured.
The outrigger
jacks on the loaded side were kept inboard
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Short rigged boom truck overturn
May 20, 2014
The crane slewed
over the short rigged side before tipping
A boom truck working
in a street in Boston, Massachusetts, last week overturned when it slewed over
the short rigged side of the crane.
The incident occurred on Friday, with the crane boom coming down across a road and into the Puopolo Park baseball field. Thankfully no one was seriously injured although the operator and a passing pedestrian were taken to hospital for evaluation. There was also a minor fuel spill and the boom landed on a pick-up truck, apparently belonging to the crane’s owners New Castle Building Products of Northborough.
The boom came down
across the road and into a baseball park
There is always a risk when operating with outriggers retracted on one side of the crane that the operator forgets and slews over them, or that he retracts and raises the boom when a big counterweight is fitted and hanging over the retracted outriggers. This is where a slew range limiter or alarm can be invaluable.
The sad thing in this case is that the crane is clearly well equipped with decent outrigger mats and plenty of decent cribbing. So this is a company that is clearly serious about setting up its cranes up properly.
The crane was well
set up with decent mats etc...
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Crane lands on McDonalds
A small city crane
overturned today onto a McDonalds restaurant in Consett, County Durham in the
UK.
The crane, a two
axle Kato city type Rough Terrain crane owned by Reedsbray Cranes of Gateshead,
was lifting an outdoor chiller unit as part of the redevelopment work to the
outlet's drive-through facility.
The crane was set up
in narrow configuration
The crane was short-rigged on both sides with outrigger jacks straight down- within the machines overall width, and mats were in use. It therefore looks as though this was an overloading issue of some kind.
The boom came down
on the roof of the building
The restaurant was open at the time with customers and staff inside, but no one was hurt in the incident
Two larger cranes were called in to extract the crane from the roof.
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Boston,
Massachusetts
A crane tipped over
in the North End Friday morning, blocking a street and leaking fuel on the
road. It happened just after 11 a.m. on Commercial Street at Jackson Avenue.
Two people were hurt
– the crane operator and a woman who dove out of the way to avoid being hit.
Their injuries are not life-threatening.
Crews
were called in to clean up about 200 gallons of leaking diesel and
hydraulic fuel on the street.
The crane slewed
over the short rigged side before tipping
Part of the crane’s
arm crushed a pickup truck and smashed through a fence.
The Crushed Pick
Up Truck
The
tip of the crane landed on third base at Puopolo Field near the Mirabella
Pool.
Traffic was blocked
between Hanover and North Washington Streets for hours.
The boom came
down across the road and into a baseball park
Authorities were
forced to cut the crane apart to remove it, because they were not able to
retract it.
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SARATOGA SPRINGS,
New York
The lattice crane
boom of a small crawler crane collapsed at the Pavilion Grand construction
site late Tuesday afternoon, its boom smashing through the surrounding fence
and landing on the sidewalk at 30 Lake Ave.
“Yes, we had a little incident with the crane,” said Brian Ackley, vice president of business development at MLB Construction Services, the general contacting company managing the project at the site. “No injuries or property damage occurred.”
MLB’s safety
director is onsite, looking into the situation.
No one was inside
the crane when the accident occurred, Ackley said. Preliminary investigations
indicate that a lever malfunctioned and tipped the crane, which bent over
backward, twisting the boom over its cab.
“The equipment was
certified and has been driven by a licensed operator,” he said.
The lot is owned by
Coldwell Banker Commercial Prime Properties of Cohoes, which is constructing a
mixed-use retail building and longer-stay hotel. The most recent renderings of
CBC Prime Properties’ plans date from June 11, 2011.
“The building will
be 85,000 square feet, with retail on the ground floor,” said Bradley Birge,
the city’s administrator of planning and economic development. “On the second
through the fifth floors, there will be 48 residential units to be used as a
longer-stay hotel.”
The construction
schedule should not be affected by the incident. Ackley expects the crew to be
up and running Wednesday