03.10.2016
Crawler overturns on soft ground
A 600 tonne crawler crane overturned last month at the Dow Chemical plant in Plaquemine, Louisiana.
Information on this incident have only recently been received, but have now been confirmed, it seem the incident occurred on Thursday September 8th while a relatively new Liebherr LR1600 was being moved while fully rigged.
The crane, reportedly owned and operated by Mammoet, was travelling on timber mats, arranged in a loose longitudinal pattern. The pressure at one point proved too great and the timers and crane track sunk into the soft ground causing the overturn. We have been assured that no one was injured in the incident. Plaquemine is to the south of Baton Rouge in Bayou country.
Dow said that it is working alongside Mammoet to investigate the incident to find out what caused the crane to overturn.
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The overturned crane
JCM AP
Bad practice all round. Did they have engineer's blessing on ground loadings? Were plate bearing tests carried out? How can this happen to such an amazing bit of equipment (go to the Austrian border with Liechtenstein to see where they are manufactured and tested, THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN! Who was overall managing/ responsible for this operation? Do they have the concept of an Appointed Person for lifting operations in the US?
Eric L
Yeah placing them in the same axis as the tracks, when they aren't wider then them, isn't really increasing the contact area.
Perpendicular means the surface area is wider.. but you need much more mats, and more time to put them down. I suspect they tried to save on either/both, and have paid the price.
Red
That's just what I thought. I have always seen mats placed perpendicular to the tracks.
orrabeel
Should the timbers not be the other way round ?