20.04.2016
Scissor in the water - UPDATED
What looks to be a scissor lift slipped into a canal in the UK sometime last weekend. The incident occurred when the machine was driving down the muddy towpath of the Dudley No 2 Canal near Netherton to the west of Birmingham, and clearly got too close to the edge.
A spokesman for the Dudley Canal and River Trust said that the machine has obviously blocked the canal to any traffic, and that recovery will be a challenge due to reaching the spot, which requires passage under a low bridge. A job for a larger spider crane perhaps?
No information as to who owns the lift, which looks like a Skyjack compact Rough Terrain, or what it was doing on the towpath have been released.
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Whose scissor lift is this? How to recover it?
UPDATE
We have been contacted this morning by the machine's owner Platform Sales & Hire of Milton Keynes. The company has confirmed that the lift is a relatively new Skyjack 6832RT, and was stolen from a nearby 'secure' site, where its keys had also been removed.
It also said: "The tracks by the canal reveal that two attempts were made to try and get the scissor lift to leave the towpath, this failed and it appears it was driven or fell into the canal. We are working with the authority’s to get the machine removed".
Sherm
Most alarming and upsetting. I hope law enforcement can catch the perpetrators and apprehend them for severe punishment.
Looks like a Snorkel to me! Brings a whole raft of questions. Right, that's the jokes done.
We are investigating the use of smart cards, GTs are leading the way. Would this have prevented the initial theft? I'm not trying to be smart, and I'm glad no one was hurt, but what can we do as an industry?
If access to the location is so difficult, perhaps some airbags underneath it and float it down to canal to somewhere more convenient to lift it out more conventionally ?