07.06.2007

Croydon Crane as it happened

The tower crane that collapsed on Saturday was caught on camera by Daryl Strawbridge and Ian Stratton in a series of high quality photographs which they have put into a short overview.

As we expected at the time the crane was being climbed with a team from the crane’s owners - Select inserting six additional tower sections. A mistake was made that appears to involve the attachment of the crane top to the climbing frame.

As a new section it was lifting was trolleyed-in the top became out of balance causing it to tip over backwards off of the tower. It then did a full 360 degree flip before landing on the hotel roof, where thankfully it came to a precarious rest.

As the counterweight smashed into the tower it damaged the tower stairs/ladder, effectively trapping three of the tower crane erectors up the tower. A mobile crane with suspended platform was used to set up abseiling lines to rescue the trapped men.

Click here to see the photos