Crane Collapse (continued)...

[Howie]

Continuing from the now Closed Forum thread Liverpool crane driver suffers horrific injuries ? why did it happen?





Contractor speaks about Liverpool investigation
09 September 2009

Bowmer & Kirkland (B&K), the lead contractor on the Liverpool, UK, job site where a Wolffkran 500 B tower crane collapsed on 6 July, has released a statement detailing the state of the investigation into the accident.

The statement explains that two Wolff cranes had been used at the same position on the site: a Wolff 100 B, working from December 2008?April 2009, and the 500 B, which worked on the site from April until the time of the accident.

The two cranes had used a shared foundation, designed for the 500 B and signed off on by Wolffkran, B&K says. A tower reducer section was supplied by Wolffkran for the 100 B, in order to allow it to be erected using the larger crane's anchor.

B&K says that the crane has been removed to the UK Health And Safety Laboratory in Buxton, where it will undergo chemical, metallurgical and structural tests. The crane foundation is subject to an order to leave undisturbed, and the HSE will soon begin excavations and investigations of it.

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As well as making clear that B&K believes that Wolffkran had agreed the foundation design and equipment used, and had signed off on a check of the foundations, the statement says that both cranes had completed thorough examinations (required by UK regulations every time a crane is erected) and been subject to regular weekly visual inspections.

All pictures courtesy of Joe Neary: More pictures here

Source: Cranes Today

[chrismarsden]

There is a loy of talk on site that all these crane collapses are due to inferior Chinese Steel.
Not sure if this is right but you get what you pay for.

[gregs dad]

As a result of this article in Cranes Today web site I had a flurry of visits to my flickr site, over 1000, to see the crane pics.