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09.04.2020

Bridge gives way under crane

A crawler crane working on a bridge job in Alabama overturned on Tuesday after an old or temporary bridge it was working from collapsed under its weight.
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The old bridge buckled under the weight


We understand from local sources that the crane, a 100 tonne Kobelco CK1100G, was lifting in a beam on the new bridge being built for State Route 46 near Heflin – halfway between Birmingham, Alabama and Atlanta Georgia. The new bridge runs alongside the one from which the crane was working, and it seems that the steel beams of the old bridge buckled, either while the crane was crossing or lifting from it, dumping the crane partly into the river.

The photographs we have received indicate a substantial incident, with most of the beams for the new bridge destroyed. Thankfully no one was hurt or injured in the incident.
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The damage to the new bridge beams appears significant


A spokesman for the Alabama Department of Transportation said a full statement on the incident will be issued next week following a full investigation.

Comments

Red
I don't see any counterweights on or near the crane. Perhaps the crane lifted a new bridge beam, started to tip over because of a lack of counterweights or a simple overload, and point loaded one side of the old bridge causing the old bridge to collapse.

What do you lads think ?

Apr 12, 2020

Nutjob1
Does this failure fall under the engineers determining load capacity before allowing a heavy crane lift loads?

Apr 10, 2020