03.03.2010

Scaffold collapse traps 12

A massive scaffold, falsework and a crane have reportedly come crashing down on the ICE extension near Halle in Germany, injuring 12.

The accident occurred this morning around 10:30 on the ICE high speed rail site. The debris fell into the flood basin below the 20 metre high viaduct.
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Rescuers bring out some of the injured

All 12 workers had been rescued by 14:00 with one said to be suffering from life threatening injuries.

The cause of the accident is unclear with some on the scene blaming the saturated ground causing supports to give way. However our coverage of this project suggests that the viaduct was being built on a cantilever basis.

Cranes & Access covered this project in the January issue, Click here to see the article.
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The viaduct from below

The bridges over the Saale and the Weisse Elster rivers are being built using cantilevered falsework with Sennebogen 660 crawler cranes working from the cantilever. One photo sent from the site suggest that the cantilever may have broken free? If so we do not know if one of the cranes went down with it.
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Another view of the site, it maybe that the crane did not fall

More information when we have it