26.08.2011

Tower crane alert for North East USA

A regular reader from the USA has suggested that we warn/remind all those on the East Coast to check that any tower cranes on their sites are in weather-vane mode before the expected storms hit this weekend.

With winds potentially exceeding 100 MPH his advice might just save one or two cranes from going over. His website includes an excellent introduction to the effects of winds on cranes and is well worth reading if you ever work with tower cranes.

Rather than waffle on ourselves he makes the point more than eloquently himself:

“Dear Leigh
Would you be interested in doing a news alert for Friday morning - for the USA?
A category 3 hurricane ( Irene ) is expected to hit the northeast cost this weekend. Cities such as, Washington DC, and New York City are predicted to get hit hard!

I have done a lot of research on tower crane accidents and WIND has been the cause of many collapses over the years ( 27 in 2010 ) if you could get a WARNING out say Friday morning about "physically" checking the "weathervane" system on tower cranes to insure they are working properly.
It has been my experience that many are not!

Here is a link to some info on wind related accidents and how to check weathervane systems. You may also want to check out my accident statistics link on same page.
Click here to follow the link
I understand if you can’t get the warning out in time - - but if you can, we just might help avert a tower crane collapse.

Terry
Tower Crane Support”
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A tower crane that went over in the wind in Utrecht, Holland 2007

Click here to read about this and a similar accident in Poland