09.01.2013

Crane collapses in New York

The tower/boom of a large crawler crane has collapsed while lifting a load of lumber in Long Island City, Queens, New York today.
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The crane appears to have been rigged in tower format

Seven people are said to be injured, three of them were trapped under the fallen boom and suffered more serious injuries, but not to the extent that their lives are threatened.

The crane an older Manitowoc - possibly a 4100- was rigged in a tower configuration with around 50 to 60 metres of boom/tower installed. The vertical tower broke away from the point where it is pinned to the boom butt section and then came down accoss the building it was working on.

The crane is owned by Jimmy Lomma’s New York Crane and Equipment, the same company which owned the Kodiak tower crane that collapsed in Manhattan in 2008, which resulted in a long legal case.
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The boom broke away above the butt section

What caused the tower to part company with the base boom section is not clear, but if we receive more information we will update this article.