Saturday, December 24, 2011

December 24th, 2011




Essex England. The boom of a luffing crane suffered a structural collapse and has been left hanging while crews assemble to disassemble the structure and make the site safe. At this time, high winds are expected so the nearby flats have been evacuated. Given the fact that the crane is not likely to weather vane properly, this seems like a prudent move.

I have only found one picture on BBC's website. Link The details are sparse at this point but it seems clear that the boom is being supported by the pendant. The cause of this accident could be varied. Structural failure due to weld failures. A pin backing out at a splice connection. Side Loading. Operating in high winds. It's a wide open until more details are released.