26.03.2008

Tower crane accident kills two

A luffing tower crane dropped one of its tower sections during a climbing operation at a job site in Miami yesterday, killing two workers and injuring five others, one of them seriously.
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The fallen section

The six metre tower section is reported to have fallen around 40 to 50 metres metres crashing through the roof of a house that the contractor, Bovis Lend Lease, was using as a safety office. We understand that both of the men who died were in the building when the section landed. 59 year old Terrance Hennessy, a safety inspector for an insurance company, died at the scene while Jeremy Thornsbury, 21, died later in hospital.
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The section went clean through the roof

One of the five injured men was reported as being in critical condition last night, while the other four did not have life-threatening injuries.
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The crane after the incident

Mary Costello, a senior vice president for Bovis Lend Lease is quoted as saying the accident occurred when a subcontractor, Morrow Equipment - North Americas leading tower crane company, “was trying to raise the crane section and it came loose. Our hearts are heavy at this moment for the two deceased individuals, including one of our own employees and the additional injured workers." She added that the company was cooperating fully with investigators.
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The fallen section is lifted clear of the house

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A mobile crane handled the section together with the tower crane

The U.S. Office of Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has two investigators at the site. The accident is similar to one that occurred in New York City in 2006 when a tower section from a Favelle Favco crane dropped by a similar distance onto the street crushing a taxi but thankfully not causing any injuries.
See a near miss
In that case it a failure in the cranes jacking hydraulics coupled with the fact that the section had not been properly retained caused the near miss.

In this case it is still unclear if the section fell from the climbing frame or if as it sounds, it was simply dropped while being raised to the climbing frame.

Morrow had provided the crane to the concrete subcontractor, Baker Concrete.

New York is reported to be currently prohibiting any tower crane climbing activity unless a City building inspector is present. Miami Dade only passed a new ordinance last week regulating tower crane inspections and operation.

The house that was damaged by the crane section apparently appeared in the film ‘There's Something About Mary.’