07.03.2017

Platform rotator failure

The platform rotator on a 46ft Manitou ART17T - a special rail-mounted version of the 160ATJ + articulated boom lift - failed last week on a Network Rail site in Cowlairs, Scotland.

The machine was working on overhead line equipment installations as part of the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme, and at the time was fortunately travelling with the platform about one metre off the ground. It would appear that part of the rotator weldment failed causing the platform to tip horizontally dropping the operator onto the tracks. Fortunately he was not injured in the incident.

As a result Network Rail and the affected contractor have stood down all Manitou ART17T units, along with 160ATJ + and related models and their derivatives while an investigation is underway. Although thee is no indication that standard units may be affected.The models affected by the bulletin include: Rail specials ART17T, ART17T(H), Neotec SkyRailer 400RR and Neotec SkyRailer 160RR.

The bulletin issued by Network Rail suggested that "the failure may be related to a manufacturing failure" and therefore might therefore be a one-off. We have contacted Manitou UK which sourced these machines for further information.

UPDATE
Manitou has now informed us that this Issue is absolutely not related to a manufacturing failure - we are currently waiting on further details - but Manitou is clear that the cause was NOT a manufacturing failure.

UPDATE 2
In a further statement Manitou has said: "The incident regarding the 160 ATJ has been investigated by ourselves and the EGIP project management. It has been concluded that the failure was due to an impact collision which resulted in the failure of the component and therefore not a manufacturers component failure."

"The railway ban has been lifted."

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The road/rail Manitou ART17H

Vertikal Comment

This is clearly a potentially serious issue BUT… it may well be related to a one-off issue such as the overloading or collision of the platform which caused a weakness that then failed. Travelling distances along rails is also likely to caused specific fatigue issues. This bulletin is being circulated more widely than possibly intened? And may therefore cause some problems for owners of standard 160ATJ machines. It might therefore be prudent to inspect the platform rotation weldment on any machines that you own just in case?
As soon as we hear something from Manitou we will of course publish it.

UPDATE: This case highlights how important it is not to jump to conclusions and this time it seems as though a scenario we put forward as a possible cause - is in fact the case. It also highlights how important it is to carry out a daily inspection and IF platform damage is present to check components downstream that might have been weakened or stressed by such an impact.