Crane collapse Manhattan 2/5/16

[taxfree4]

This morning about 8:30 there was a crane collapse in Manhattan, one dead 13 injured. Operated by Bay Crane, was on quite a few jobs with them - good oufit.

[taxfree4]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zgCP7pW6xuA

[BIGLRY]

As a 31 yr. retired crane operator (Operating Engineers local 12) that is every crane operators worst nightmare. I will be waiting to hear what happened to cause the boom to fall out of control like that, I suspect a bad/miss adjusted drum brake or that maybe the Carousel & Jib were set at wrong angle for lowering, causing to much leveraged weight for the crane's brakes to hold?

[JackB]

Is that a Manitowoc Crane?
They are usually red.

[Phantom]

The crane was authorized by the building inspectors on site to be extended to it's maximum length of 565 feet the day prior to the collapse. Supposedly, this was the first time this particular crane had ever been at this length. This NEW model was released in 2015. It was a Liebherr LR1500.

Here is it's predecessor, the LR1400 http://www.trucks-cranes.nl/english/...nborg1400.html

Once the cab started toppling over …. it was doomed.

Perhaps the cab did not have sufficient counter weigh on the back side? Did the High Rises create a "funnel" effect and force the winds between the buildings to exceed the cranes limit of operation above 30mph winds?

Do these cranes have secondary outriggers that can extend forward of the cab and rearward to have additional weight added to the back of the machine?

This thing wasn't even lifting anything at the time. I found the following ….
http://www.liebherr.com/en/deu/lates...days-news.html

It is sad indeed.

[Old Ryder]

Let the lawyers begin...............

[stroguy]

There was snow on the crane several hours after it fell. Curious if there may have been ice build up on the entire structure. 1/8" of ice or even frost can be an incredible amount of weight.

[BIGLRY]

The crane was authorized by the building inspectors on site to be extended to it's maximum length of 565 feet the day prior to the collapse. Supposedly, this was the first time this particular crane had ever been at this length. This NEW model was released in 2015. It was a Liebherr LR1500.

Here is it's predecessor, the LR1400 http://www.trucks-cranes.nl/english/...nborg1400.html

Once the cab started toppling over …. it was doomed.

Perhaps the cab did not have sufficient counter weigh on the back side? No that was not it. You will notice in the video that at 1:15 the house & tracks start to lift, the boom was way out of control and almost completely down. You will also notice the house flipped upside down at the end of the failure and that was when the boom lift drum locked up and flipped the house over
Did the High Rises create a "funnel" effect and force the winds between the buildings to exceed the cranes limit of operation above 30mph winds? Would not cause the falling of the boom, yes wind will move boom and in tight spaced can cause damage, but wind speed limit is mainly for loads which can shift/swing in high winds and topple crane(see vid of "Big Blue").
https://youtu.be/HI-ENqgjQXM

On tower cranes we set them to weather vane when not in use, then tower will turn if the wind is to high.


Do these cranes have secondary outriggers that can extend forward of the cab and rearward Not normally on a crawler type crane of that size
to have additional weight added to the back of the machine? What they have available is an extension(one several designs) for the back that is added on so more counter weight can be added but are not "outriggers". As far as I can tell this type attachment was not on that crane.

This thing wasn't even lifting anything at the time. I found the following ….
http://www.liebherr.com/en/deu/lates...days-news.html

It is sad indeed.

Yes, "sad indeed" as a crane operator it breaks my heart to see stuff like this.
Here is an example of an extension on the back of a Manitowoc 21000


Just a note, I along with several other people(20 iron workers and one other operator) hold a world record for height for weight lift, set 1996 at the Vandenberg air force base on the coast of Calif.
While building the Titan lV slick 4 launch complex I ran the controls that set 1,200 tons 357' in the air with a four leg Kramo jacking tower crane. The rigging weighted 30 tons by itself, it took 6 months just to build the crane in place.

[taxfree4]

They are giving praise to the crane operator claiming he used the steering controls, as it was falling, to guide the crane down to the empty street instead of striking the buildings. How true that is I'll leave it to the in-house expert BIGLRY.

[BIGLRY]

They are giving praise to the crane operator claiming he used the steering controls, as it was falling, to guide the crane down to the empty street instead of striking the buildings. How true that is I'll leave it to the in-house expert BIGLRY.

I'm sure it is very true, I'd bet that the operator was pulling and jamming the swing brake, slewing levers and boom hoist controls as hard & fast as he could. The worst part is when the house flipped upside down, I can tell you from experience there is no sicker feeling in the pit of your stomach when you lose control and become just a passenger in disaster with no way out.
I have never turned one over, but been witness to enough crane accidents and had close calls with a pucker factor of 11 to know that the operator was doing everything possible to bring the crane down safely.

Crane operators are funny type guys, they hold the life and death of all the men around them in their hands every time they fire the rig up. Crane operators must always be in control and cool under stress and let me tell you running a long boom in any big city is a very stressful job, so stressful that tower crane operators only work 4 hr. shifts and why there is always 2 operators per 8 hr. shift.