30.09.2008

Crane drops boom

A lattice truck crane dropped its boom yesterday on a new school under construction in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, USA, No one was injured.

The operator was warming up the crane, a Link Belt owned by Greystone Equipment Company was rigged with around 70 metres of Boom and fly jib when the accident happened.

Apart from the cranes boom, several steel beams on the structure were bent, but construction resumed later on in the day, while investigators from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigated the cause of the crane failure.

Vertikal Comment

Photographs and video footage show that the first boom section after the base section collapsed, casuing the boom to come down.

Whether it was due to the boom coming into contact with the structure or some failure in the pendant lines between the mast and the boom not possible to say.

The crane itself looks to be in good condition and and remained perfectly stable throughout.