02.12.2014

One we missed

A crane operator had a lucky escape at the end of September when the ground gave way beneath one of his outriggers, in Bolzano, Italy, causing his four axle All Terrain to overturn.
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The rear outrigger punched through the road surface into a void

The boom struck a concrete wall and dropped across an athletics track and onto a sports field. The crane appears to have been lifting a concrete beam into the arena.

The operator, who was employed by the crane’s owner Del Col, was spared serious injury and managed to jump clear of the cab as the crane went over. He did suffer a minor hand injury, otherwise no one was hurt in the incident.
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It looks as though the crane was lifting a concrete beam

Thankfully the sports field was not in use at the time, so the biggest concern at the time was containing a substantial fuel and oil spill. The crane was recovered in early October.
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The boom came down across a track onto the football field

Vertikal Comment

It looks as though outrigger spreader mats were there but it is hard to see if they were in fact used. An urban street such as this is of course an area you would expect to encounter soft ground and possible underground voids.