02.03.2011

Lucky escape for window washer

A man using a 60ft boom lift in San Francisco had a lucky escape yesterday after one of the machines wheels dropped into a void, while driving on the sidewalk/pavement.

The accident occurred on Sutter Street in downtown San Francisco when the boom lift, a Genie S-65 belonging to United Rentals, was being driven fully stowed. The operator was unharmed and might have been prevented from being catapulted out of the platform by his harness?
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The boom lift broke through the sidewalk and while stowed still created a catapult effect

Two tow trucks were called in to pull the lift out of the hole and it was then able to drive off apparently undamaged.

The sidewalk surface was less than an inch thick and was spread over the steel beams of an underground basement. The wheel dropped into the space between two beams.

City engineer Fuad S. Sweiss said: "The sidewalk has a basement underneath it. The roof of the basement is not designed to carry a 25,000lb fork lift. It should have been parked on the street rather than the sidewalk.”
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The machine was relatively undamaged

He also said the window washing company ought to have had a permit and that the property owner will be responsible for repairing the damage.

Vertikal Comment

If this man had been driving the machine while elevated this might have been a completely different story.

Why people think that they can drive such heavy machines on the sidewalk in old neighbourhoods is a mystery. This accident was totally predictable.