Friday, August 15, 2008

July 10th 2008



Rotterdam Netherlands, What appears to be a Wilbert WT 300 collapses while working on constructing a new building. Stories vary claiming that the operator swung out of the way of workers then somehow managed to jump safely to the 17th floor before the crane fully collapsed. Another report says that he died. Having an operator jump from the crane to the building would be an amazing story if we could confirm it. Sounds like a James Bond Casino Royale tower crane action scene. If a crane is in danger of collapse then you try to quickly swing or boom up, you would induce more damage to the crane than what may have been there causing you to think that there was a problem in the first place. As operators our exposure is imminent and everyone is much safer if we take a moment to discover the problem rather than make rash judgements. Maybe this is a case of him being a hero, but sometimes critical damage does not mean that the crane is going to fall if it is properly handled. I don't have any details as to why the crane would have failed, but one point of failure is certainly the mast.

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