05.12.2012

Enerpac test collapse

A large self-erecting gantry collapsed on Monday during testing at the Enerpac production facility in Hengelo, the Netherlands.

We understand that the 1,700 tonne, 100 metre high gantry was being built for work at the Chernobyl power plant in the Ukraine.

The gantry and its four towers were being tested at each height and had reached 45 metres when they collapsed, while lifting a test weight said to be around 100 tonnes. We understand that the initial failure was not in the structure itself, but was in one of the test weights – containers full of sand.
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The lifting gantry before the incident

Three of the four towers were destroyed while the other remained upright and stable, a mobile crane carrying out the lifting duties with the test was also damaged in the incident.
Thankfully no one was hurt, and the debris is now being cleaned up.
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The debris after the collapse