05.01.2011
Crane tips in Malmö
A four axle All Terrain crane went over in Malmö, Sweden yesterday afternoon, no one was injured.
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The crane was working over the rear
The crane, a Demag owned by rental company Kran & Shakt had set up with full boom and extensions on a project close to the city’s Central Station to lift glass panels into place on a new building being constructed by Peab.
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The crane was set up with 'full stick'
The crane was over the rear with outriggers fully down, although the photos we have been sent indicate that one of the rear beams had not been fully extended, however this should not have had any significant impact on the cranes stability over the rear.
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The outriggers appear to have done their job,
The owner of Kran & Shakt, Louis Zyto was apparently on site at the time, neither he nor the operator who was suffering from shock, but otherwise not injured, were unable to say what had caused the tip.
The boom came down onto a small van but as far as we know it was unoccupied or the driver managed to escape unhurt.
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Two larger mobiles came in to recover the stricken crane
Two larger mobiles were called in to recover the upturned crane overnight.
Dear Mr Editor,
The Demag Crane depicted above appears from your other photos to be suffering from a condition known as 'Short Rigging' whereby the rear left Outrigger is partially extended ( Unlike the rear right Outrigger which is fully extended) : The effect of this is to divide the vertically imposed load on each outrigger in an unequal manner: This alone may not have been the sole cause of the Crane lifting off its front outriggers, but will certainly have played a part in it.
For the avoidance of doubt, as your BLOG shows daily reports of Cranes overturning.
1. All Outrigger beams should be fully extended.
2. OutRigger Legs should take 100% of crane ULW
3. Outrigger pads Square Area should be maximised for greater stability by extra timber mats under pads. Especiallym on soft ground of any kind.
A proper Risk Assessment before the event should identify all of the control measures necessary for safe lifting operations to take place : To summarise, the 'Short Rigged' outrigger would definately have made the crane unstable, all it then needed was some secondary factor to make it overturn, perhaps lowering the Boom when fully extended ( while fitted with Fly Jib) which took it out of Radius and thus exceeded its SWL.
Whatever the cause, it was no accident for this is yet another example of Negligence which has killed many men on the ground, including my Father In Law David Stanford of Dublin on 15/1/88.
I look forward to reading the HSE Inspectors report on this potentially fatal incident ?
Kind Regards
Mike Ponsonby BA