12.06.2009

North American cities set to share tower crane data

New York’s Department of Buildings says it will share information about tower cranes with Chicago and Philadelphia in an effort to track equipment failures, manufacturers’ recalls, accidents and industry trends.

There is currently no national crane database but other areas including New York State, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, Ontario and Dallas had expressed interest in the new program.

NY Buildings Commissioner Robert D. LiMandri called the planned database “a major step toward establishing a standardised system of tracking tower cranes across the country”.

The agreement is the latest in a series of measures brought in after two tower crane accidents in Manhattan left nine people dead last year, leading to the resignation of Mr. LiMandri’s predecessor and to several investigations that uncovered widespread corruption within the agency’s Cranes and Derricks Division.

The accidents also drew attention to other problems - The Buildings Department has long been unable to track construction contractors by name, leaving inspectors, investigators and agency officials with no way to find the various job sites where a particular troubled or suspicious contractor or company was working.

The new system, according to a department spokesman, will capture the number of cranes that are active in an area, the address where the crane is working, the crane’s owner, the make, model, year and serial number, the date it was erected on the site, the maximum height and the date it was dismantled.
The database, which will be updated quarterly, also will include any information on accidents or any other incidents involving the machines and will be running by the end of June.