July 31st, 2008

Original link

Milan Italy A tower crane was blown over during the night due to an apparent tornado. I don't have any report of any injuries, but clearly the crane and at least one vehicle was destroyed. Did the Volkswagen get spared? I'm not sure but it's close!

The same old story is true, that you need to make sure that your crane weather vanes and does so well. Sometime Technicians are OK with the idea of letting the brakes drag a bit even when they are open. I don't agree with this position. When you get into winds like tornado's, the wind can change direction very quickly and the best chance of survival is to have a crane that points downwind without hesitation. An example of hesitation and the eventual results...



Crollo della gru a torre a Milano