This happened down the street from my house - these guys were tearing down 3 houses to make room for a new highway and the foundation collapsed under the guy. I got there a few hours after they started getting the machine upright, but from what I understand it was completely on its side earlier this morning. There were about 30 people there with cameras (including me!). It must be embarrassing to have your screw-up so widely publicized!
Ouch That hurts. Was anyone injured?
Injuries I don't know, but I haven't heard anything so I doubt it. There were no sirens this morning, so the EMS didn't have to go there.
Thats good. Great pictures of anothers misfortune. lol
Machine OK They had the machine operational by this afternoon, and when I came home tonight the house is gone and a big hole stands in its place...
HAHA Good thing the machine made it
Ouch! Yea, unless I was bleeding to death I would want to be driven to the hospital, too...to avoid further embarrasment. Glad everything is ok, that really sucks to have a crowd that big. I don't think some people realize that something like this can happen to anyone.:Banghead
You said the foundation collapsed, but it looks like the machine was out in the middle of the house. Did a wall cave in, or did the operator take the machine out into the middle of the floor on a light wood frame floor deck?
It looks like a bad operator :IMO, that machine could come out whit the help of the boom, that 3/4 cable from the truck is making thing worst .
Komatsu...Takes a lickin and keeps on tickin....lol..i just had to say it.....later
Wow, that sucks for that poor guy haha. Everyone makes mistakes eh? It costs biiig bucks to go in the ambulance . . . If I were ever to be taken away in one I'd literally HAVE to be dieing!
That tends to happen when you track over the basement fondation onto the wooden floor joists. Machine did not have enough reach for the job. Rookies!!
You really think he did THAT? Nooo... Could anyone be that stupid?
i guess he was :Banghead
Foundation Collapse I don't think they tracked out onto the wooden floor deck. What I've seen from other demolitions here is they crush the house into the foundation, then climb onto that. Likely that is what they did (I saw them doing this today on the second house they were taking down with the same machine), but the pile shifted and the machine rolled over. It always seemed very dangerous to me to take down a house this way, but it seems to be par for the course around here. When the machine is up on the pile, it sure does wiggle around quite a bit. I wouldn't want to own a machine doing that work.
Cable I don't think so - earlier in the day, before I got these pictures, the machine was completely on its side. That truck, which appeared to be some sort of older military vehicle, pulled the machine back over to the position it is in. I didn't think the truck would have the guts to do it, but it did. I was expecting them to bring a much bigger crane to right the machine.
If I was the operator in that situation I wold use the arm to get my self out. From the picture it looks like he went down into the foundation.
We had an operator do the something. We where demo 4 plexs and they had a grade beam foundation. We where told to keep most of our tracks off the slab more or less to keep from busting it up. He kept getting on there one time he turned his tracks sideways. The one track was only supported by a 4" slab and it broke. Well on all the other building there was only a 21/2' crawl space this one has a 6' one. He was swung the right way so that the cab was the other way and the house wedged against the center grade beam. Keeping the hoe from going all the way over. It was a 45-50 ton hoe luckily we had a 80ton to dig it out and tear the foundation away from it.
Hopefully, nobody was hurt.
How did that happen? Anyone hurt (except the old houses)? Hopefully not.
I agree, probably he folded everything into the foundation, then climbed on top of the pile to load it out.
As they say in French, oy vey.
Newspaper Story This made the local newspaper. Thankfully, no one was hurt. I have been told that the operator nearly hit someone in a car when he swung the tail end of the machine out into oncoming traffic when working on the fourth demolition in the project.
I hate how reporters call machines "trucks".
that machine looked to small for what they were doing. never should have walked the machine on the foundation like that.
Buckethead, I agree with you but I think it's unusual. Typically all yellow machines are called "bulldozer", which is equally annoying.
In new Zealand here a few week ago a house was up on piles ready to be lowered down after just been transported, a digger was working right next to it, digger op started to go up a bank and tipped over, boom smashing into house and knocking it off poles.....sad thing is, there were bout 4 guys under it, one died and others hurt pretty bad. Was a real freak accident.
Just posting to clear probation Hey Folks, just posting in order to get my 3 posts in so I'm off probation. Ah, by the way, great pictures. At least the guy will have stories for the grand kids. Thanks for the memories!