25.11.2020

Crane swallowed

A man was injured when the ground beneath a telescopic crawler crane opened up and almost swallowed it on a site in Toronto, Canada on Monday.

The crane was a 100 tonne Link-Belt TCC1100 from the ALL crane rental fleet which was working on the city’s a Crosstown Light Rail system site. Sat on a concrete pad, it had most of its boom extended when a huge sinkhole opened up beneath the concrete pad. In spite of the crane tipping forward into the hole, the operator was able to climb from his cab unharmed. Another man on site was hurt, suffering a knee injury while trying to escape from the incident.
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Photo – chief Matthew Pegg – Toronto Fire Service
The crane had been on the site of the Mount Pleasant underground light rail station for around eight months without a problem. ALL sent in a larger crane to recover the first and we understand that it completed the job by last night. Ontario's Ministry of Labour will conduct the investigation.

Kristin Jenkins, director of communications for Crosslinx Transit Solutions, the consortium building the railway, said: “Fortunately, the operator of the crane is fine. We did have one minor injury, a worker moving out of the way of the crane slipped and banged his knee. The incident will be thoroughly investigated. Once we are able to get on site and take a look, we will develop a plan to repair the sinkhole."

The Crosslinx rail will run east from Mount Dennis through 24 other stations to Kennedy Avenue near High Park.