07.10.2013

Another tower crane incident at One57

A tower crane on the One57 tower site in New York malfunctioned today leaving a load suspended over the area with strong winds forecast.

A previous tower crane on the site, at 157 West 57th street featured in the news last year after its jib collapsed during hurricane Sandy - see: Tower crane fails in New York and New York crane secured

This morning’s ‘event’ occurred at around 9:30 local time while the load was around 100 metres or so in the air.

Local authorities are monitoring the situation and have put a ‘Level 1 mobilisation’ in operation for traffic control and are looking at closing off some streets.

The situation is causing additional concern in that New York City is currently under a tornado watch, with strong winds expected. The developer for the building, which will be Manhattan’s tallest residential block, is Extell Development.

The first crane, was not removed in April of this year, given that it could not be climbed down until the jib had been removed - see: Mini solution

UPDATE

57th street was closed down for several hours between sixth and seventh avenue, while the load was suspended. It was eventually lowered manually, reaching the ground around 15:30 in the afternoon. The load is said to have been a six tonne counterweight block.