04.02.2009

Side loading destroys crane

The boom of a 100 tonne Liebherr LTR 1100 telescopic crawler crane collapsed on Monday while working on a concrete tilt-up job in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
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It is clear from this view that the crane was well off level

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The boom went sideways and then fell to the rear

The crane owned by Master Projects was reported to be working out of level and the boom subjected to serious side loads. As a result the boom was literally ripped sideways from its pivot point.
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The fallen crane boom

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The failure occured at the boom pivot point

Close up photographs of the boom base and pivot area indicate a severe overloading which ripped thick steel plate, while the forged lift cylinder pivot was sheared in two. A number of vehicles were struck by the falling boom, but thankfully it missed the site office and no one was injured.
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Two pick ups were caught but the site office missed

Vertikal Comment

Most modern high performance telescopic booms from mobile cranes, including that of the Liebherr LTR1100 are not designed for excessive side loadings, to avoid this the crane needs to be set up as close to level as possible, especially when the load to be lifted is a significant percentage of the cranes maximum capacity. Care also needs to taken to ensure that the ground conditions are suitable.

A telescopic crawler crane with a high performance boom, is not the ideal machine for heavy duty cycle work, especially with long boom extensions, unless it can sit on a well prepared base which is both level and stable.