17.08.2012

Another tree - another crane down

A boom truck overturned with the boom coming to rest on a house in Newark, New Jersey yesterday while removing a tree from the back yard.

The crane, owned by Millennium Tree Service, was lifting a section of the tree which was heavier than expected when it overturned. The boom came down onto the roof of the house which prevented the crane from completely overturning.
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The boom came down onto the roof of the house which prevented the crane from completely overturning.

The house sustained damage to its roof and exterior walls however it has not been considered an imminent hazard. Fortunately no one was injured in the incident. Two cranes were later brought in to recover the crane.
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The house sustained damage to its roof and exterior walls

The crane was clearly too small for the job, the outriggers appear to have been well set up, fully extended and with substantial mats under the pads.
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The outriggers look to be well set up

Vertikal Comment

When will they ever learn …when will they ever learn…so goes an old song that is true today as it was then.

It is frustrating to report on the number of times crane companies underestimate the weight of living wood. Tree removal from private homes usually involves long reach, uncertain ground conditions and unknown weights, probably coupled with low prices, the combination of which does not bode well.

Why companies do not over specify for such work is beyond me. If it means losing the contract then lose it and let some other fool pay you to extract his crane from the roof of some poor couples home.

In this case the crane was owned by the tree contrator, so understandibly he wanted to use his own crane, but then the team should have cut the tree into smaller chunks - it might have taken longer....... no actually in this case it would have saved them time!