http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz71eVreMDc I have my own opinions but it a very expensive bridge now....
Looks like at 17 seconds the camera operator and pals spots cracks and abort the set, shortly followed by the backfilled slope giving way. Did the counterweight overcome the rotational motor? It was probably a rental crane, hopefully they paid the damage waiver.
The crane pad failed. They should of dropped that load when they noticed the cracks. Next time they should use a bigger crane and stay away from the edge of the bank.
Foolish, looked like he had a chance to set load down. One end in the water other on the pier. Would have bought him some time. Think I wached that over twenty times. After seeing the crack, down, set down was all I could think. That operator, man if he was not hurt I'd be suprised. Side note. Looks like we start to see vide after she has already slide a foot or more. muzy ointhead Also did not see any extra footing/padding on far side of crane.
Yeah there is no shame in dropping a load. In this case there were no people under the load to have nightmares about later if you did drop the load. BAD SITUATION all the way around, it is easy to 20/20 hindsite. I hope no one was injured.
So you think he was trying to get the load back to the shore before setting it down?
Yup, what do you think shipman? And futher more I'm wondering why both cranes were placing loads at the same time? muzy Or thats what it looks like
Looks like the far outrigger was even closer to the edge due to the angle of the bank, once the load came off, and the upper swinging around like that, and the boom up, it sure went pear shaped fast, bad day in middle earth. Do you think if he could have stopped the upper from swinging it might have stuck?
Now for a little more info.................. We have received more details and photos from the crane accident in Auckland this week from an eye witness in a bid to help others learn from any mistakes. It seems that the crane, a 200 tonne Terex All Terrain was lifting the second beam of the new Huruhuru Cycleway bridge into place, when the embankment, built for the cranes and trucks on each side of the creek, gave way. Heavy rains helped cause the subsidence The crane slews the beam The outriggers were set on a decent set of mats The crane, owned by Auckland and Waikato cranes, was set up on some decent outrigger mats, but as the full weight of the beam came over the outriggers on the bank side of the crane the temporary embankment simply gave way. It is possible that heavy rains overnight might have undermined the integrity of the embankment. The embankment gives way
This is a good example of the value of job site cameras as a protection against liability for many parties concerned on the job. Just shows you can never be too sure of the recommended distance from the edge of an embankment - daily observation of ground condition and crane set up is vital! Think First - Be Safe!
It's good to see you're able to post here once again Stock. Me and Stock were discussing this event a few days ago via email. I always preface these type of accidents by saying the best we can do is speculate because we weren't there to experience it. However, the You Tube video is rather compelling in this incident, with the operation and outcome of the crane. Given the visual evidence presented in the vid, I told Stock what so many others here have said, the operator should have dropped the load in the creek at first sight of problem. Then hope that machine would somewhat stablize and then regroup. To continue the operation by trying to bring the load closer was nothing less than foolish. It was a concrete beam for crying out loud, drop it in the creek, it ain't gonna drown! The fill base is questionable, it's hard to tell, but it looks like simply loose stone. Might be sufficient if it was placed and compacted properly, information we're not privy to. The last pic that Stock posted is interesting to me. The deep cracking and heaving of the creek mud bank indicates it slid out from under the stone work base. Most likely a combination of being wet (it is a river bank after all), possibly help from the rain, and the weight of the equipment bearing on it. Looks like a precarious work set up, but again, we can only speculate about that. But to continue to manuver the load? Foolish.
I hope no one was injured. It goes to show how quickly things can go bad. This should be mandatory viewing for anyone who works anywhere near a rig, especially foremen and superintendents.
I'm not sure about the Terex machines but the Demags ,Groves and Krupps we have DO NOT have a free fall like the old conventional's did .No way to "Dump" the load. The thing I was looking at was after the beam was down, The machine never slowed down any what so ever.So dumping the load may not have helped a bit Also it looked to me that the ground gave way in a straight line .
When one says "dump the load" Tiny, doesn't necessarily mean via free fall, just means set it down promptly. No, there's no way this would guarantee the rig would stablilize, but in my experience, when things are going bad, it's more likely getting rid of the load will help more than continuing to manuever the load. Get rid of it and re-group.
Yes Atcoequip and I'll quote if you don't mind " Looks like a precarious work set up," I agree 100 percent starting with the outrigger mats, outrigger is not in the middle. That can be seen clearly 12 sec in. As my understanding of crane placement and set up is not formaly taught. But learnt on site. Basic common sense told me the out rigger always gose in the center of the mat or pad. And if there is an edge with a radius on your pad that gose down. The pad was good, at least where that second axle comes down and squishes the tire right down to the rim. Yea don't watch wakie-talky guy run around, look at the wheel. Any ways thanks for posting that stock. It's been a while since my hair has stood strait up. muzy
One thing I noticed is that as soon as he did drop the load the ground gaveway on the counterweight side, maybe if he had dropped it right away while he was still over the rear he might have had a chance.
gimme a friction rig over a squirt boom any day. i wanna be able to get rid of trouble in a hurry.
Wakie Talkie man looked straight at the big crack by the rear tire.He should have shut down this operation or at least told the crane operator.
This whole situation is just bad. Bottom line, the material this rig is sitting on is garbage. And they are too close to the edge of this fill, junk material or otherwise. Best thing for one to do here is not be set up on junk fill, the boss can go to h#ll if he tells you to, because the man in the white hat is going to blame you for this. Now as was mentioned this operator should have touched that beam down in a hurry, after all the ground is giving away under the loaded outrigger, not under the counter weight as I see is written above. Now youll never find me in a situation like this, I usually take a 550 toner out and on occasion when that rig isnt needed Ill go out with the RTs. And if you have to build a pad for us to setup on like this one, your doing compaction testing, PERIOD.
I can say this to all of the operators reading this as my experience and observation of newer cranes and the progress of cranes over the years. Newer type hydraulic cranes have changed in ways many operators and owners have not thought about. Because of weight laws and the longer higher capacity cranes the crane chassis is lighter than ever - this now means that there are in some cases much higher outrigger loadings in ways you may not think about - the counterweight of these new cranes is much higher than earlier machines - the frame flexes more, the boom has more deflection, many factors that have changed the loading of the crane across the chassis and on to the ground. It is clear that the operator and job site had taken the proper precautions to cribbing the crane up however when the weather changed so should have the game plan at that point - but I suspect somewhere money and time got in the middle and we then know what happens after that!!! Bye Bye Safety Think First - Be Safe
Too Close... I think the formula is something like a 1 to 1 slope... so if that is a 20 foot pier, then the cranes should have been 20 foot from the edge of the banks. Not right on the edge of the banks. the load should have been set in the water... the boom shaky boom shaky BOOM... all that movement just compounded the problem..
What I was saying was as soon as the load touched the ground the side the crane went over to was the counterweight side, not the loaded side. So if he had set it down right away instead of trying bring the load back the the counterweight would still be over the front rather than over the side and therefore he might have had a chance to get the outriggers up and out of there before it all went dirty side up.
I think some may not realize the slope had already sliped before the vid was even started. In the start crane is already 5 degrees back end down. 5 degrees. That was their warning. muzy
I thought about this as well, the rotation seemed to just make things worse. I am not sure there is anything that could have been done to save the situation. I suspect that once the load was off, the machine would have been counterweight heavy, meaning if the crane was rotated to face the water directly and boomed up, it would have taken the most weight off of the unstable outriggers and put more on the ones on firm ground. However the load would have had to been lowered rapidly to avoid it coming in contact with the machine when booming up. Ultimately i think this was a doomed situation and the crane was going to go in the water no matter what was done after the point at which the video started.
I wander really is setting it down right away would of even saved it. At the point where the vid started like muzy said the bank was clearly on the move already. No amount of compaction testing would of indicated the sub grade would of failed like that. He was going down before the load hit the ground looks like at the 50sec mark the bank was really starting to move.
Didn't the radio operator say something like that? or was it just two blokes chatting at the beginning. It looks like the put was aborted, instead of setting on the pier the load was headed to the ground.
In my work I'm working next to slopes all the time. This incident just reinforces my healthy fear of working near slopes.
"Bring er in" is what I hear him say. In a calm voice. I would gusse he thought it was all good. muzy
I suppose it was either that or 'In case of a water landing, your seat cushion can be used as a flotation device, exits are located overhead and to your right.'
Lol he didn't need a flotation device he needed a ejection seat.
The operator was trying to bring the load back to the bank. As he did this he turned. Also the load was swinging (gently) back and forth. I think if he would have set the load straight down as soon as the crack was noticed and then boomed in there was a chance that the crane would have stayed upright.
haha was that in reference to the load??? or to whatever annoying foreman/super standing close to or under the load?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdCJzO3w7_M&feature=related Don't know about hilarious? The whole thing looks staged, as you would not allow the old fella to stand in the lift area.
That one in you linked is definitely staged