The Social Network & Community JUST for Firefighters
Crane Collapse and Tip Over- What Would You Do?
Here's an intersting and challenging scenario that occurred recently (But with no one trapped), that was emailed to me. The pictures show before collapse, just after collapse and then finally after the whole lot tipped over...
Some background information:
- 9 Day Old 250 tonne Leibherr Crane (never used before)
- $4mill price tag
- Failure of back propping beneath the 200mm thick concrete deck
- Crane support outrigger punches through slab causing crane to lose balance and collapse across the site and onto adjoining property
- Crane balanced in the air for approx 1 hour before entire rig & boom collapse completely across site and rigs falls through to the basement level.
You're first on scene, with the driver still in the crane control cabin. The clock is ticking- you've got 1 hour before the collapse described above. What would you do?
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Jason Brooks on
-
1. Panic
2. Panic some more
3. Call for Technical Rescue assistance
4. Panic some more
5. Call for additional crane to secure this one too, if possible
6. Ropes may help slow things down, you would need lots of them
7. Use the available construction guys on scene as a resource, they are often overlooked and tpically are a great resource
8. Work fast
9. See if the operator can self extricate
10. Go home sick
11. Make sure noone else gets hurt
12. If there is any idea of a further collapse, contruction resource here, stay out. One life is bad, but 10 is much worse -
-
Permalink Reply by lutan1 on
-
Yahoo! We have a response!
Some food for thought-
Ropes- what sort and where from? This is a 250tonne crane so I'm gonna assume with all its ballast, etc, it's gonna be way up there with similar weight.
Anchors- Where and how is this sucker gonna be abchored? Again, it's a 250 tonne crane.
Going home aint an option!!! -
-
Permalink Reply by Michael J. Guadagno on
-
Tough scenario, the only sensible option I can think of is get the crane operator out as quickly as possible, the operators compartment didn't look compromised so some sort of short ladder, limit rescue personnel, applicable extrication tools (if needed), get him out and clear the area. Let the construction engineers and contractors figure out how to upright the crane. I cannot think of any Fire Department that would have chains, etc. rated high enough to secure this thing from tipping all the way over or through the whole and even if they did, what would they secure it to? Plus you don't know initially to what extent the floor collapse will continue. Is it just confined to the single whole in the floor or will it impact the entire structure? But Life Safety is the highest priority get the operator out and get the Firefighters out of the structure, that's it.
-
-
-
You're probably right about a FD not having chains rated high eneough.
The other thing I was thinking of is access to the crane for either heavy haulage (For stabilsiation) and other cranes- it's already failed once, can it do it again? What sort of reach do these things have??? -
-
Permalink Reply by Mark Montgomery on
-
I deal with crane collapses from time to time as part of my fulltime work. Recovery is not easy and often involves taking a gas torch to the boom structure, and carefully planned tandem or multiple crane lifts to recover or remove whats left.
Once something like what the photographs shows starts you have to wait for it to complete its course. Of course, if things are stable or slow enough, you may be able to effect a rescue of the operator from the crane cab before things become untenable. Most crane operators will bail out pretty quickly if things are not going well, especially as the operators seat quite literally is often at the tipping point.
Endeavouring to secure something this size before it all stops moving is damn near impossible. You could consider trying to prop from below but who in their right mind is going to put crews at risk for a machine, irrespective of how much it costs!
Once you have the operator and all others safe its time to stand back and watch, which is exactly what our Australian counterparts did. -
-
-
Thanks for the response Mark- is it a 1:1 ratio?
ie: if it's capable of lifting 250 tonnes, does that mean the counterbalance (or whatever the terminology is) is 250 tonne also, plus the weight of the crane itself? -
-
-
Hi Lutan
No they don't work on a 1:1 basis, otherwise they would be too heavy to travel on all but specially built roads.
This particular crane has a total counterweight of 97.5 tonne. This is made of a basic counterweight of 75.2 tonnes as follows: 1 basic slab of 10t and 3 slabs of 12.5 t each, 2 lateral hang on slabs of 12.5 t each. Additional counterweight can be added as follows: 2 additional lateral hang on slabs of 12.5 t each.
These are the full specs for this type of crane http://www.liebherr.com/catXmedia/at/Documents/00b17301-b73d-4462-a... -
-
-
No they don't work on a 1:1 basis, otherwise they would be too heavy to travel on all but specially built roads.
DOH! Good point- didn't think of that!!!!
I'm probably going to regret asking this because you're going to blow me away with physics and maths, but how does a crane weighing 97 tonne lift 250 tonne without tipping over all the time?
I've done zero work with cranes.... -
-
Permalink Reply by Suz on
-
Sorry to butt in, but thought you all might find the crane collapse 2 years ago here interesting. 1 person killed, very urban enviroment, in the evening; FFs used a ladder to retrieve the operator from about 20 to 30 feet above the ground, but he was able to pull himself out of the cage You can see the article at http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/292762_crane17.html
- Attachments:
-
-
450crane18_01overall.jpg, 42 KB -
450crane18_02overall.jpg, 41 KB
-
450crane18_diagonal.jpg, 44 KB
-
-
-
-
Hi Sue
Don't feel you are butting in. This is an open forum and everyone's views are welcome.
That item you posted is, I found quite, interesting from a number of technical perspectives.
First up this is a tower crane, not a mobile crane as we have been discussing to date (no problems there though). Of more interest to me is that it appears to have failed at its base rather than the normal failure areas of the boom or while the crane is being jacked up.
These tower cranes present very significant hazards and challenges to firefighters in the event of something happening. They are often taller than any aerial apparatus available, and there is often no direct access to them anyway, with them commonly rising through the soon to be elevator shafts in the middle of buildings.
To undertake a rescue of an operator from the cab you are usually go to need a high-angle or technical rope rescue team.
You may also need crane specialists in to stabilize things before any rescue can be attempted. This is definitely not a job for fire services as it is just too technical. -
-
Permalink Reply by Frederik Munnik on
-
Hi Mark, Sue & all else
I am a member of our fire service technical rescue team and a structural collapse instructor down here in Cape Town, South Africa. Cranes tend to keep us bussy from time to time. If I can figure out how to load the pics, I'd share some of a mobile crane that tipped whilst dismanteling another fixed crane - we call them derick's. No one was hurt (driver bailed the moment things appeared to be moving without his consent), however the boom smached into a cold storage facility and resulted in a hazmat due to the chlorine plant being damaged.
We have an infestation of tower cranes at present. Our city is growing at a rapid rate due to the upcomming 2010 world soccer. Plenty tower cranes used for the construction that is going on. Our fair sized harbour provides a safe haven to ships planning to round the Cape of Storms. It too has it's fair share of cranes. Due to our weather and especially the South Easterly wind (Cape doctor as it's called locally) we need to gain access and assist the operators down to "terra ferma" every so often. By no means an easy job, very technical as you have rightly stated. Had one or two incidents when the operator has suffered CVA's or hart attacks. These are even worse as the patient cannot assist you in any way with the rescue. Generally you require more man power than what the confined space of the crane cage allows. I have found that some of the tower cranes are so designed that the operator's seat is actually built on the cab entry hatch. Thus he sits on the only way into the crane cage. I'd like to know if anyone has come accross this type of problem? It complicates gaining access as you can well imagine.
In closing thanx for the technical data and mail address, interesting.
Have a good one. - Attachments:
-
-
HPIM1499.JPG, 750 KB
-
HPIM1505.JPG, 738 KB
-
HPIM1506.JPG, 986 KB
-
-
-
Permalink Reply by Asst Chief Tim Cook on
-
First off you're in a world of Doo. You have MANY grave risks in this scenerio.First the "load"is unstable and this machine is VERY heavy.Want to know how I know? The COUNTERWEIGHT ALONE on this vehicle can weigh upwards of 75 tons.The crane itself is 140-150000 lbs. I had to winch one of these off a soft shoulder and I can tell you properly blocked(cord wood road)they drag mean.Not too much in vehicle rescue bothers me on average but this job scares the pi** out of me.This load is way unstable and no way to easily stabilize it.Combine that with the freshly poured concrete foundation or panels and you've got a recipe for disaster.Oh wait,we're looking at it. And the isurance isn't going to like that loss,that crane is now JUNK.Propably some low end salvage but no one is going to recertify that boom.Rescueing the operator,I'd use a straight ladder on the floor with a couple big bulls standing on the end furthest from the crane and the two smallest guys you got to scoop the operator and go.The obect of the ladder is to spread the load on a questionable deck.This is a scary,scary,job until that crane hits the bottom.
-
© 2024 Created by Firefighter Nation WebChief.
Powered by
