04.07.2003

Record breakers

UK crane hire company, Hewden, was faced with an unorthodox request when it was called up by the BBC’s Top Gear team to supply the craneage to “drop” a load. The request came as part of record breaking attempt to drop a caravan from height to the ground after a previous attempt at breaking the land speed record for towing a caravan failed when the car that was used blew up just before the 128 miles per hour landmark. Please register to see all images

The crane operator prepares for the "drop" in the 200 tonne Demag

Hewden supplied a 200 tonne Demag for the “drop”, which was not as straight forward as first thought. The crane operator had to first explain that he could not just “drop” the caravan, the whole point being, said Hewden, that the company was simply not in the habit of dropping items they had been hired to lift. The problem was finally overcome by TV action company, Bickers Action, which set up a quick release mechanism allowing the quick release of the caravan from a great height.