Crane Accident

   / Crane Accident #12  
I believe the snapping sound was the wooden fence being crushed.
Like someone stated earlier I think you will find a hole pinched in that operators seat:D and could have possibly been the snapping sound heard.
 
   / Crane Accident #13  
Happened right as he extended the last section to clear the chimney.

Ive read where the owners said it was a computer failure. Could have been the load computer. He was at max safe radius for the load , computer allowed him to extend more.. over she goes. Or maybe a load cell was defective and the pool was heavier than it appeared. There wasnt much of a counterweight there considering the radius.

... Not a crane operator, but worked with a few in close proximity.
 
   / Crane Accident #14  
Scooby074 Thats all good points on the load computer on the crane. THe man that put me on my first Crane told me that I was gonna learn right. He put me on an old 5299 American with 125 feet of boom. He told me that alot of operators get too used to the load computers telling them whats safe. He used to though his coat over the computer screen on his 222 Manitowoc with 175 foot boom. I learned alot he gave me a crane operators handbook that had weight estimation tips and formulas. It really helped me out alot on doing lifts without weights intact.
 
   / Crane Accident #15  
About 20 years ago,I was installing a 5 ton rooftop a/c and the crane fell. It was a 80 ton crane. He had his jib extention on and the crane hugging the building and turned 90 deg. Boom length fully extended was 130ft and he was all out trying to reach the roofcurb to set the unit on. I was between the unit and edge of the roof about halfway in signaling the operator.When it happened,I had my back to the crane watching the unit in the air....all of a sudden the unit started down fast...the crane engine revved like crazy,my helper shouted,and I went running. The building was a one story and had a 5 ft parapet wall,so it was 20 ft above ground.The crane was up on its side riggers and the bottom wheels were almost even with the roof and the boom arm all the way across the roof...laying on top of 5 air conditioners .Of course,it shook the whole building with ceiling tiles falling out,etc. About 200 people came running outside...to the side the crane was on. The operator panicked and started sucking his boom in.Well...about 25 ft shorter,the boom didnt have as much leverage and the crane fell back down...the 16" diameter steel ball came whipping across the roof (like a fishing reel) and whizzed by me ,missing me by 5 ft.(so my helper said,and I HEARD it ...bigtime). The crane barely kept from turning over the other direction (I'm still amazed it didnt)....and this with 200 people gathered around (mostly oilfield engineers at Petrofac LLC)...Talk about some peaved off people...whew! Anyways...to make a short story long :D, there was a 3ft diameter concrete drainline pipe directly underneath the outrigger about 4 ft deep that the outrigger fell/busted into. I used to have pictures, but lost'em along time ago....actually,now that I think about it,I believe my employer at the time,got them to show his buddies. Needless to say,every since then, I am always very cautious around cranes (and I use'm several times a year). From that point forward,Petrofac insisted we use a 140 ton crane(guessing,its been along time ago...it had 3 turning tires up front on each side) with 175 ft boom (without jib,)...had to transport 100 miles round trip with city permits,etc.....very expensive.
 
   / Crane Accident #17  
That was painful to watch.
 
   / Crane Accident #18  
About 4 years ago, a crane tipped over backwards while the provincial electrical utility was changing out a padmount transformer in a residential backyard in Regina. The transformer is right at the back property line and the crane is on the front street so it's a fair distance and the crane was at it's limit for the weight and distance. You can see from the pic that the operator set up and did the lift over the back. The crane in front is the one the crane company brought in to salvage the original one you can see in the background.
crane-big-house070725.jpg
They determined the reason for the crane going over was because the capacity over the back is less than off the side. That was because the outriggers are closer to the rotation point of the crane when you measure the distance from the back compared to the distance from the sides. Apparently, the difference was enough that the leverage changed significantly, enough to put the crane into an overloaded situation beyond the point where it would balance. The weight of the truck sticking out opposite to the crane's boom wasn't enough to compensate for that change in leverage. That situation had a lot in common with the crane in joe's original post and I wouldn't be surprised that the pool crane operator either forgot or possibly never knew that you have to take into account the possible "derating" of the crane's capacity when lifting over the back.
 
   / Crane Accident #19  
Well i am not sure if it happened before or after the crane tipped up. It looks like one of the rigger pads broke. I can only assume it broke after the crane came up how ever it is possible a rigger broke. That crane should have been more then able to lift that pool.
 
   / Crane Accident #20  
Well i am not sure if it happened before or after the crane tipped up. It looks like one of the rigger pads broke. I can only assume it broke after the crane came up how ever it is possible a rigger broke. That crane should have been more then able to lift that pool.

You would think that pool was an easy load. But look at the leverage that it pulled when he extended? Sure sounded expensive, and made a real mess.It was good no one was crushed or killed? I thought the sound was an outrigger or stand failing....
 

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