23.05.2008

Big crawler goes over

A 750 tonne crawler crane has tipped over at a Kansas power plant today, resulting in one fatality and three injured, two of which are serious but not life threatening the other being minor.
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The fallen crane in Kansas

The accident occurred at the Kansas City Power & Light Iatan power plant near Weston, in Platte County at around 7:30 local time this morning.

According to a statment from the plant, the crane was lowering its boom due to concerns over rising wind speeds, which were gusting up to 28 MPH at the time, when it clearly lost stability. The crane was working for main contractor the French based company Alstom.
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The crane after the accident

The crane a Manitowoc model 18000 has been working on the site for well over six months. The project includes the construction of a new coal-fired plant, the crane was operating from a large well constructed wood platform. It looks as though it had around 60 or 70 metres of boom and jib erected. It was not lifting any load at the time.