28.03.2010
Crane boom/jib hits building
The boom of a large mobile telescopic crane fitted with luffing jib crept down overnight on Saturday in New York, with the jib coming to rest on the facade of a high rise office block in the city’s financial district no one was hurt.
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A photo showing the contact
The crane was set up in order to place an air conditioning unit onto the roof of the headquarters of New York City’s Department of Investigation and was left set up overnight and the boom lift cylinders appear to have crept down. The jib caused damage to the building’s façade and residents in the area were reportedly evacuated.
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The jib is successfully lowered
The crane, owned by Bay Crane, was recovered yesterday with the boom being raised slewed to face the street and then lowered for jib removal.
Vertikal Comment
Bay Crane has one of the highest safety records in the land and as far as we know this is the only significant incident it has had to date Investigators are saying that the boom should have been fully retracted, lowered or placed so that this could not have happened.
Easy to say in a tight city street with so much jib installed. Perhaps it is better that it came to rest against a building than crept down onto traffic? without seeing the set up it is impossible to comment.
Mark Krajci
It would be recommended that if the crane is to be left un-manned over night then a good idea would be to touch the luffing jib tip to the ground. This may have prevented this incident from happening. However, in this city it seems that traffic flow may take precedent, but then if the tip is on the ground a over night traffic watch should have been used. But then that would cost additional money!