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16.02.2023

Taking a dip in the river

A two axle mobile crane overturned into the river Rhine last Thursday in Cologne, Germany.

The crane - a Sennebogen industrial mobile - belonging to contractor Hochtief, was working on renovation work along the riverside promenade when it lost stability. The emergency services blamed the incident on operator error. It was clearly related to overloading or an outrigger related issue. It appears to have been short rigged on the river side of the crane.

Thankfully no one was hurt in the incident and the fire service managed to prevent any serious water contamination.
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Cranes from local rental company Colonia arrived on site to assist with the recovery
click here to see a local news report with video
Photos courtesy of Feuerwehr Köln

Comments

Eric_L
Ya can't park there mate !

Feb 20, 2023

Eric_L
Ya can't park there mate !

Feb 20, 2023

o
FAO Mr Juan S. Cases
CEO and Chairman
Hochtief AG.
Alfredstraße 236
D-45133 Essen
Germany.

Good Morning Mr Cases,

Your overturned crane depicted above led the Emergency Services
to cite Operator Error as the cause of this Crane incident which is
number 1271 worldwide since Monday 7th May 2007. However to
blame the Operator is not only unreasonable but also inaccurate as
lack of adequate Training is the Root Cause.

That is, your Crane is fitted with 4 x Outriggers, all of which
should be fully Extended out and down to make this Crane Stable
during all Lifting Operations.

However as you can see from the Photos, these Outriggers were not
extended and as such this dangerous practice of ‘Short-Rigging’ made
this Crane Unstable when the Hydraulic Boom was Lifted off its Cradle
and Slewed to the side. Gravity then took over and the Crane tipped
into the river with the possibility of fatal results for someone.

But for the Grace of God no-one was killed unlike 714 previous
occasions arising from 1271 Crane and Lifting Incidents
Worldwide since Monday morning the 7th of May 2007.

FYI only, my 16 Yr worldwide database records 676 x Incidents of
Short-Rigged Outriggers on Mobile Crane or No Spreader Mats or both.

Should you wish to avoid any further damage to your companies
excellent repute, then please Train all Crane Operators in how to calculate
the effects of Force, Mass and Gravity during Lifting Operations as these
are Fundamentally important for Crane Safety .

Yours Sincerely

Mike Ponsonby

Feb 20, 2023