27.11.2013
Fatal crane collapse at Sao Paulo World Cup stadium
Two people age 40 and 42, have died, following the collapse of a crawler crane at Sao Paulo's Arena Corinthians stadium which is due to host the opening ceremony for the 2014 football World Cup.
Click here to see a video of the collapse
The boom of the crane, a 1,350 tonne capacity Liebherr LR11350 owned by Brazil’s largest crane company Locar, appears to have gone over the back and to the side of the machine breaking the superstructure connections and landing on the roof of the stadium.
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An overview of the scene shortly after the incident occurred
The crane which was working with suspended derrick mast counterweight was specifically brought in to install the large roof structure and was lifting the final 420 tonne section into place when the load appears to get caught up just before the boom collapses.
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The boom went over the back
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The superstructure connections have given way, possibly due to shock stresses imposed by the boom collapse
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The crane at work around a year ago
FAO Mr Marcelo B. Odebrecht, CEO of Odebrecht Infrastructure, Brazil.
Good Afternoon Mr Odebrecht,
Time and Tide Wait for No Man, so as 30 days has now elapsed since this Appalling Fatal Crane Incident in Brazil which Killed Two Men on Wednesday 27th November 2013. It therefore follows that if No-one else will speak-up for these Dead Men, I will.
The excellent Liebherr LR11350 Crawler Crane is a first class Machine and very safe too, as it is fitted with the exemplary LICCON control system which records all Voluntary and Involuntary Actions & Reactions of Operator and Machine. The Mfrs Duty Charts are an excellent source of data, so my initial research was to calculate the Force and the Mass Involved. This can be done by calculating the Ground Loading applied through the Tracks of this machine.
a) Scaled Photos of your LR11350 Crane shows it was Rigged as a 'Suspended Derrick Boom' ( SDB) with main Boom of circa 102 Metres & 42 Metres Back Boom.
b) The Gross weight of Crane including 320 tonnes of Ballast on Carbody and 600 tonnes on the Suspended Superlift Tray at rear, was circa 1723 tonnes.
c) Your PR confirms that Roof Steelwork load lifted was 420 tonnes, plus 10% Factor of Safety for Rigging, Shackles & Unknown Variables in this Large Steel Fabrication.
d) This means the Gross Weight of Crane and Load was circa 2185 tonnes.
e) The Contact Area of the Two Std Fitment Tracks is 2m wide x 14m long or 28 square metres each, which gives 56 square metres in total.
g) Therefore dividing the Gross Weight of circa 2185 tonnes by the Square Area of the Tracks gives the imposed load of 39.02 Tonne Metre Squared (Tm2) at point of Lift.
This particular Liebherr LR11350 Crane would have been supplied by the Mfr with the excellent LICCON Work Planner ( Described as Universal Einsatzplaner on the steel case) plus a Lift-Plan CD Rom for each Crane delivered. The use of these Two Items allows all Crane Lifts to be Pre-planned using a Multiplicity of Boom, Ballast and Radius configurations. So this then raises a number of additional questions....
h) Was a Lift Plan Drawn-up for this particular Lift, or Series of Lifts ?
i) Did the Actual Lift on 27/11/13 of 420t suspended load on Hook, match the same SDB Boom, Ballast and Radius parameters as the Original Lift Plan for this Crane ?
j) If Not was there a variation between the Lift Parameters and was another Lift Plan then produced to Re-plan this particular Lift & Travel Operation ?
k) What was the Ground Bearing Pressure (GBP) at the Point of Lift ?
l) What Steel or Hardwood Mat Sizes were intended at Time of Travelling Crane Fwd with 420t load on Hook, to reduce the Point Loadings through the Tracks ?
Mr Odebrecht, as Worker Safety is my Core Value and your Company was the Main Contractor, with this Lift Authorised by your Management Team. I am now formally requesting on behalf of all those Men killed by Cranes over the years, that you personally authorise the publication of the final 30 seconds of Data stored on the excellent LICCON system on this LR11350 Machine, as the Crane World needs to know what was the Root Cause of this Fatal Incident on Wednesday 27th November 2013 ?
Please feel free to disprove my calculations above, as my sole motivation is Worker Safety.
With Kindest Regards
Mike Ponsonby BA
Good Afternoon Mr Editor,
History shows a very long list of Men and Women killed by Cranes and/or Lifting Operations over the years. So it is interesting to reflect that in the 36 days since the World Crane Summit in Amsterdam on 28th October, that another Six (6) men have been killed by Cranes.
a. Worker Killed by Crawler Crane Ballast Blocks in France on Thursday 24th October 2013.
b. Worker Killed on site by a Dropped Load, namely a pre-fabricated Concrete Stairs dropped in London UK on Friday 8th November 2013.
c. Crane Driver Crushed to Death in Holland, when the Hydraulic Telescopic Boom of his Crawler Crane tipped sideways, Killing him in his Cab on Tuesday 19th Nov 2013.
d. Three more Crane Fatalities in Brazil on Wed 27th Nov 2013 when the Jib of the excellent Liebherr LR11350 crawler crane collapses to the left. ( RIP Brothers)
Therefore while my sympathy lies with the Families of Deceased, it appears to me that the Crane Industry is now facing a testing time, that is to either put forward proposals to Dramatically Improve Crane Safety and Safe Lifting Operations or National Parliaments will do it for you, with new, stringent and more demanding Legislation on this subject.
( Similar to what we already have in UK)
As for the comment of Mr Camilo Filho that " the LR11350 was only working at 82% of the Load Chart " : Yes Compliance with the Duty Chart is a factor, but its not the only one, because a Crane is only as Safe as the Ground it is standing upon and from the Photos it appears that your Crane was standing on a Roadway of Crushed Rock without Mats. The Mats themselves are depicted in another Photo off to the Right, so this then raises the questions...
e. What was the Ground Bearing Pressure (GBP) at the Point of Lift ?
f. What was the Calculated Imposed Load per Square Metre applied through the Tracks ?
g. How was the Actual Imposed Load by the Tracks to be spread over a Much Wider Area Without the Use of Steel or Timber Mats ?
Fortunately this excellent machine is fitted with the the first class LICCON system, so the Facts will be recorded for computer simulation over and over again. Finally all of this is speculation on my part because I am 8000 kms away from Brazil. However as Worker Safety is one of my Core Values, these are matters of Life and Death to the Men on the Ground in Brazil. So I am Happy to help with some Fresh Thinking on this subject, but please dont describe them as Accidents, as these Fatal Incidents are not Accidental ?
With Kindest Regards
Mike Ponsonby BA
BBC now have film of the collapse :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-25154971
Good Morning Mr Editor,
History shows a very long list of Men and Women killed by Cranes and/or Lifting Operations over the years.
So it is interesting to reflect that in the 36 days since the excellent World Crane Summit in Amsterdam on 28th October, that another Five (5) Men have been killed by Cranes.
1. Worker Killed by Crawler Crane Ballast Blocks in France on Thursday 24th October 2013.
2. Worker Killed on site by a Dropped Load, namely a pre-fabricated Concrete Stairs dropped in London UK on Friday 8th November 2013.
3. Crane Driver Crushed to Death in Holland, when the Hydraulic Telescopic Boom of his Crawler Crane tipped sideways, Killing him in his Cab on Tuesday 19th November 2013.
4. Two more Workers Killed by the Falling Jib of a High Capacity Crawler Crane in Brazil on Wednesday 27th November 2013. ( RIP to all Men involved)
Therefore while Worker Safety is my Core Value, my empathy now lies with the Families of deceased, who have to live with their loss of their loved ones for many years to come.
In conclusion it appears that the Construction Industry now has to face up to the fact that the Model of Safety Training deployed hitherto is not working and should now reconsider its Training Model for the future. Because like it or not, it is my submission that the entire Crane and Construction Industry is Required to Pro-Actively Improve Crane Safety ASAP ?
As Worker Safety is my Core Value, I am Happy to help with with some Fresh Thinking on this subject, but please dont describe them as Accidents, as these Fatal Incidents are not Accidental ?
With Kindest Regards
Mike Ponsonby BA
paul-roberts54
Looking at the various pictures now on the internet I believe they were travelling to position the roof section and the roof caught on the main building pushing the Jib over. What ever the cause this is another sad event where people have lost their lives.
erichburger
This is a really weird accident, i really dont understand how the chasis fell apart...
might be a rigging problem?
This is just horrible, I have no idea what depth of enquiry will take place vs. demands for a completed stadium on time but folk have died here yet again and we need to know why and how and how not to do this again.
Football may be coming home to Brazil, but at what cost ?
mr_gottwald
This is reminding me at Big Blue...
Same horrible pictures.