OT: What not to do with a $4M crane

[M1Riflenut]

It's been slow here lately so here's an interesting OT I thought you guys might like. Got it in an email.

9 day old 250t (275 US tons) Liebherr Crane (first job)
$4 million price tag


Failure to use back propping (shoring) beneath the 200mm (just under 8" ) thick concrete deck
has catastrophic results.
Crane support outrigger punches through slab causing crane to lose balance and collapse across
the site and onto adjoining property.


It appears there was nothing other than the factory pad under the outriggers.
Shoring may not have helped anyway.


Crane balanced in the air for approx 1 hour before entire rig & boom collapse completely across site
and rigs falls through to the basement level.





Amazing that no-one was seriously injured or killed.
Can you say: "oops".
What do you tell the boss? Sorry,I had a bad morning?

Information

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[BruceV]

Ouch! Somebody is going to have to contact the insurance company. Sincerely. BruceV.

[M1Tommy]

That's going to require a LOT of paperwork!

[Embalmer]

why in hell would you even park that on any part of the foundation, knowing there was a sublevel to it, when that boom was long enough to reach any part of the site if parked on solid ground outside the foundation???

[limazulu]

It seems they received inadequate training in the use of the product.

[limpetmine]

Somebody didn't do a hazard analysis on the job, or a proper pre-lift survey. I wouldn't want to be those guys.....

[rider]

If they had punched the proper load parameters in to the crane's "computer", I think it would have said "nope" as soon as they got the boom extended half way over that outrigger. Someone didn't do their pre-lift work.

[JB White]

Having done a few precasts and on-site tilt-ups I understand why the rig was on the deck.

Timber pads may have helped spread the load, but there wasn't enough shoring against the pan deck. In the photos you can see a pair of shore jacks lying in the rubble. Having an outrigger taking the weight of the pick with no pads, not enough shoring, and in the center of a column bay on a fresh deck, is a recipe for disaster. If an old carpenter can see that, the operator certainly should have.


Call the rental company and tell them to come get it. LOL