Here are a few pictures from my friend Kevin in South LA. Kevin is on the D5, helping push the crane up the ramp to the barge. From my understanding, the tug boat was still winched tight to the barge, and as the weight of the crane got on the barge, the tug end of the barge came up and caused the tug to come out of the water some, hindering the tugs ability to keep the barge firmly planted against the shore. Then the barge pushed away from the shore. Either way you can see what happens next. I have a 63MB video of the whole thing also, I'll try to post it on youtube later this evening. Enjoy! BTW, the crane boom fell across the barge, people standing everywhere, but no one got hurt.
Video of crane accident I posted the video on you tube here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZj5BIWP60w
holy crap! that's something you don't catch on film everyday! Glad no one was hurt.
There should have been something securing the barge to shore, some sort of anchor... even a cable to the excavator would have been a good idea... Great vid!
Great video. I can not believe no one was hurt. If you look at the video Dig-UP the excavator had it's bucket around the bollard on the barge and then let go and then the barge slipped away.
It looks like the force of the barge pulling away was great enough to overcome the hydraulic relief valve... Glad everyone is ok, but this could have been avoided...
I couldn't say it any better. Eddie
Awww c'mon that'll buff right out. Nice video
Looks to me if the guy on the dozer would have quit pushing it wouldn't have happened.
I like when the hoe operator couldn't hold it any more he spun around and said see you bitchs later I'm out of here.
WOW!!!!!
You can tell who the owner or foreman was in the video. The one cussing and arms flailing after the screw up for sure. Crane accidents are awefull, and most times the machine is junk or not trustworthy after an incident!
That was a bad idea from the very beginning.
^2 he knew what was up and booked it!
crane ops fault he stoped moving when you load a rig on a barge you dont stop till all the way on or off.
That's what I was thinking - as soon as he stops, the dozer is acting directly on the barge...to launch it!
I think the dozer did, in fact, help launch the barge. But I think his actions were from what he could see from his perspective. He could tell the crane wansn't all the way on the barge and that his blade under the counterweight was the only thing holding it on, so he kept pushing till it was futile. What was the barge tow doing while the barge was adrift? Was he texting on his cell phone while he should have laid down the throttle? And as for the crane operator stopping, do we know he actually stopped tramming? It's possible the swing drum clutches were too loose to provide strong drive, hence the need for A DOZER PUSHING A CRANE! I can see so many safety errors in this video that the video could be used to train personnel all the things NOT to do! It's obvious that they didn't sit down, plan it out, work out the procedure, appoint "John Doe" to be the lead and only signal man, etc. It seemed everyone was doing his own herky jerky thing. And what's up with so many useless and in the way yo yo's on the barge? It's an absolute miracle that not one of those guys on the barge got squashed like a 'possom on the centerline! Amazing! ointhead
dozer should have been pulling on the other side of barge oppsite hoe if that 108 wont pull it self because of clutch adjustment it is the ops fault
sould have ran drag cable threw fairlead hooked too other end of barge. may not be ops fault but lack of an op.
Well, I maintain that it's not just the crane operators fault, or the dozer operator, or the trackhoe, nor any one individual. There are so many errors in this whole process it is the epitome of the old saying "it's an accident waiting to happen"!
there were no injuries at least.
This was the "only" thing this crew got right. I just don't know how!
they probly have no idea how lucky they are
Sad part is it looks like a main machine is maybee a small town crane co. To lose a boom and have the cab caved in too, spells danger to that small co's future!
I noticed that too. There is more than one person on the barge signalling the crane operator, that is an accident waiting to happen. Anyone can give the signal to stop in an emergency, but there should only be ONE designated signal person. When I have more than one guy signaling me I stop until they figure out who is going to signal. :Banghead
my dad is the president of that company... When i saw this i called him right away and asked why he never told me about this??? he really didnt have anything to say.. i have my own dirt company and i guess he was embarrassed.. i believe the dozer and operator are from a different company... they own the crane and barge and tug i believe.. im gonna try to find out what the hell they were thinking
I have never loaded a crane on a barge. From what I was told, and believe me after seing the video fresh from the camera I had lots of questions. Please, barge and crane people help me here. I was told the Tug operator didn't slack off his winch lines after he pushed barge into the shore. Which caused the tug to loose "traction" when the tug end of the barge came up. From what I was told had the tug captain loosened his winch lines it would have allowed the barge to float upward, while the tug was still pushing the barge into the shore. From the video, for a second, you can see how far up the barge, and the tug are lifted from the water. I am no tug captian, I have never worked around a tug, barge or anything like that, this is just what I've been told. The dozer was on cross tie mats from the ground to the barge. The dozer pushing wasn't effecting the movement of the barge. From what I hear, for every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction. I reallly have no idea what all happened that day, but I am quite sure it cost someone some money. Im glad it wasn't me, and also really glad no one was killed or injured. I like to think that if I was loading a crane on a barge, I would take my inexperience in to account, and make for damn sure that barge wasn't going anyhwere! I fret enough on making sure my trailer is level and on good ground to load my little dozer! Safety is NEVER an accident. Atco, you are right, there was for sure not a plan being followed.... Kirk DeFoor
Amatuers... I've loaded a barge with a crane on many occassions. These guys did everything wrong ship side and land side. 1. Ballast the barge so you are sitting as low as possible even if you are aground. The walk on height is not that bad, looks to be about 5'. 2. Make sure you are tied to something secure. The dozer and the hoe would have been just fine to anchor to, and the deck crew should be smart enough to whip together some hawsers, shackles, and wire rope to make a sturdy set of rigging. 3. The captain should have been full ahead on the engines the second the crane started toward the ramps. 4. Slacking the face wires on the tug and putting out a work line to give him some saftey as to be not entirely loose from the vessel. 5. Too many chiefs not enough indians...the captain, craft foreman, operator, and deck boss should have had a sit down to talk about the move. Even if they have done it a hundred times in the same spot same way everytime. The way we did it was, the craft forman and the operator line up the iron, the deck boss informs the capt. that the land side is ready an makes the final check of the rigging, the captain runs the tug and gives the ok that the iron is lined up good and he is ready. the deck boss signals the operator, the Foreman watches the operator and the jr. deckhand watches the rigging. The operator and the deck boss are the ones in control of the move from start to finish. If something is screwy, they call it off and try something else. Looks like everyone and their grammy were doing the same job aside from pulling the levers. 6. The dozer was adding to the problem. If the machine cant do it under its own power, don't do it and rethink the move. The dozer was helping to push the barge away from the mats and only added to the thrust of the crawler walking up them. When the crane bogged, the dozer should have backed off at least. 7. the guy running the hoe bailed out too early. He may have been the reason the whole works failed, the barge kicks away violently after he lets go. Bad plan all the way around though. Fair leading a tow wire to both machines and around the timberheads on the barge to the crane would have done 2 things. Helped hold the barge in position, and give the crawler the extra oomph to make it up the ramp. I'm suprised no one got killed, especially the guys on deck. The guys on the water side should be ashamed. They should have seen this coming before it happened. It's the golden rule on the water, "what can go wrong will go wrong, everytime."
Bully is making the simple point I was attempting to make. I'm cetainly no expert on loading on a barge, but I ain't dumb as dirt either. It is easy to point the blame to this person, or that operator, but what I saw was a complete failure of all parts invloved. The only thing they did correctly was somehow not kill someone. This lesson can easily apply to any of us on any piece of equipment. Pay attention, at least plan a safe way to do things. Doing things with heavy equipment in a hap hazard way is to say the least, crazy and expensive; and at worse, deadly. Everybody be safe out there.
Series of unfortunate events ... No radio's i bet... that may have made a difference ..if the dozer and tug skipper were on the same page ...one for the operator ..would have been nice ..