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04.12.2018

Crawler tips on M23

A telescopic crawler crane tipped rearwards onto its counterweight earlier tonight on the M23 motorway near London’s Gatwick airport in the UK.
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The scene tonight on the UK's M23 motorway


The crane operator has clearly slewed over the side with the tracks fully retracted - to an overall width of under three metres, full counterweight in place and the almost fully retracted boom fully elevated, making it very back heavy.

The crane, a 70 tonne Sennebogen 673E owned by Sheet Piling (UK), came to rest on its counterweight with no one hurt in the incident and the damage probably slight. However, the police closed two lanes of the motorway as a precaution, causing major traffic problems in the area. The southbound lanes of the road are due to be closed overnight in order to recover the crane.
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The crane's tracks were fully retracted, boom raised and full counterweight in place - meaning that this was highly likely to have been the outcome

Comments

Sherm
If the operator defied orders as might a smart aleck would do then let him be responsible for all cost of recovery and delay of the assignment. If standards were followed this should not have happened. Will they ever learn?

Dec 9, 2018

Red
AND the photo show plenty of room to extend the tracks in the first place !?!

Dec 8, 2018

Billy Boy
How long does it take to read the operators manual?

Dec 6, 2018

Billy Boy
How long does it take to read the operators manual?

Dec 6, 2018

orrabeel
Another bulldozer driver in the cab. This simply cannot go on. Is balance a concept that cant be grasped. The operator and the guy who hired him should be thrown in jail.

Dec 6, 2018

Nothing to heavy
be grand they said,we do it all the time they said
Pull the levers they said🤦🏻‍♂️

Dec 5, 2018