Monday, February 21, 2011

February 20th, 2011



Stuttgart, Germany A Tower Crane collapsed inside of a 40,000 seat stadium. The crane was a mere 14 meters high, and the cab of the crane was dislodged in a way that it seapartated from the wreckage which allowed the 31 year old operator to clear himself from the cab with broken ribs. He was immediately taken to the hospital.



The crane appears to have broken away at the Cat Head to turntable connection. Sometimes these connections are made with through bolts. We have seen a number (1, 2)of Comedils come down due to poor bolting and bolts that have never been changed out after being torqued. I have personally found loose bolts on similar connections. I'm not familiar with the particular crane in use here so I can't really know what type of connection it is that we are talking about. Is it a pin that maybe had a keeper missing? A set of shouldered bolts that were not tightened due to being forgotten?



You should be putting your hands on the bolts of your cranes. I can't tell you how often I find hand loose bolts that should be tightened well beyond my physical ability to loosen them without a tool, let alone by hand. This is how we can prevent these problems from getting to the point of failure. Daily Checks should be done prior to each shift. Don't take the extra time your employer gives you to just go up in the crane and get yourself set up, walk that jib. Look at those pins. Put hands on those bolts. It's your life that we might be talking about.





Kran Unfall Stuttgart

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