29.07.2016

Tower crane emergency

The emergency services were called to a tower crane that had started to list in Hamburg, Germany yesterday.

The crane operator was lifting a couple of sheets of re-bar on the surprisingly untidy site in the Lokstedt area of the city, when the crane tower shifted. He immediately stopped everything and called the fire and rescue service before climbing down from his cab.
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The crane shifted while lifting rebar sheets

The emergency services found that one of the corner blocks that the freestanding counterweighted crane was sitting on, had shifted. They evacuated around 100 people from the surrounding buildings and then placed wooden blocks/cribbing under the frame and used a slim hydraulic jack to apply pressure and stabilise the crane while the owner was notified.
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The fire and rescue crew placed blocks under the frame and used a slim jack to stabilise the crane

A mobile crane quickly arrived on the scene to remove the load and possibly start dismantling the crane. Thankfully winds were exceptionally light and so were not a factor.
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The other side of the 'foundation'