A massive construction crane killed at least one person when it collapsed in New York City amid falling snow Friday morning.

The crane reportedly toppled over at around 8:30 a.m. at Worth St. and West Broadway in the lower Manhattan neighborhood of Tribeca. It crushed a row of parked cars and slammed against buildings — strewing shattered bricks and debris into the street.

[www.yahoo.com]

I post this because, while I understand the physics, I still would never climb up in one to operate it. I just don't get how more don't fall over more often...

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Disclaimer: This post is checked for correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Any attempts at humor are solely the responsibility of the author and bear no claim that any and all readers will approve or appreciate said attempt at humor.
My name is DP, and I approve this message.

YIKES!!!

That's a big ass crane. I'm surprised more people weren't killed/injured.

"Last year, the company was involved in a similar incident when an industrial air conditioner fell nearly 30 stories to the ground while being transported by another one of its cranes."

They operate as a primarily 'static' load structure. While they do move, they don't move quickly because they're constantly adjusting loads to counteract the forces they're handling. If something fails catastrophically then bad things happen...quickly.

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ztirffritz
They operate as a primarily 'static' load structure. While they do move, they don't move quickly because they're constantly adjusting loads to counteract the forces they're handling. If something fails catastrophically then bad things happen...quickly.

Wonder if snow and ice contributed to it becoming off balance.

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C(-)ris
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I really hate walking anywhere near these sites. I regularly pass by one of the sites where a crane came down a couple of years ago, causing a number of deaths and destroying a really nice older building. There is a big yuppie hutch going up where the older building stood, of course with cranes in use.

Amazing that someone actually caught this latest collapse as it happened.

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C(-)ris

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ztirffritz
They operate as a primarily 'static' load structure. While they do move, they don't move quickly because they're constantly adjusting loads to counteract the forces they're handling. If something fails catastrophically then bad things happen...quickly.

Wonder if snow and ice contributed to it becoming off balance.

Through the night and this morning we got a few inches of wet, heavy snow. It clings to everything. That crane would've been loaded with the stuff. Much more dangerous than the 20 inches of powder last week. Powder doesn't cling like the wet stuff.

3d,

The snow is still coming down. Definitely much more annoying than the powdery flakes from the blizzard. Worse, it's covering traffic lights, making it far more difficult to differentiate the colors.

I saw all too many vehicles go through red lights as a result. 'course, one was due to snow covering the traffic light. The other times were because the morons behind the wheel couldn't be bothered with the traffic light. He didn't even slow down at all.

But, this kind of stuff on a crane that is difficult enough to work with or on under beautiful skies? Yags! Glad I don't live or work around these areas.

Robert

if it wasn't official yet then it is now..NYC has a definite construction crane problem..what is going on there?

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Robert M
3d,

The snow is still coming down. Definitely much more annoying than the powdery flakes from the blizzard. Worse, it's covering traffic lights, making it far more difficult to differentiate the colors.

I saw all too many vehicles go through red lights as a result. 'course, one was due to snow covering the traffic light. The other times were because the morons behind the wheel couldn't be bothered with the traffic light. He didn't even slow down at all.

But, this kind of stuff on a crane that is difficult enough to work with or on under beautiful skies? Yags! Glad I don't live or work around these areas.

Robert

Unintended consequences of shifting from incandescent bulbs to LED - not enough heat to melt off the snow!

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Kraniac
if it wasn't official yet then it is now..NYC has a definite construction crane problem..what is going on there?

The 1-percenters delved too greedily and too high. You know what they awoke in the darkness of Lower Manhattan... shadow and cranes. — Saruman

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3d

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Kraniac
if it wasn't official yet then it is now..NYC has a definite construction crane problem..what is going on there?

The 1-percenters delved too greedily and too high. You know what they awoke in the darkness of Lower Manhattan... shadow and cranes. — Saruman

LOL!

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Disclaimer: This post is checked for correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Any attempts at humor are solely the responsibility of the author and bear no claim that any and all readers will approve or appreciate said attempt at humor.
My name is DP, and I approve this message.

imo, i suspect wind. i went over a bridge this morning. it was really blowing up there - 20-30 mph. in lower manhattan like that either

a) you're lucky and protected

b) the buildings form a wind tunnel and its even worse.

fj,

This assumes the lights have LEDs in them. Around here, I wouldn't necessarily make that assumption even if it's in a nicer part of Long Island, NY.

Robert

oops.

Video of the collapse: [www.yahoo.com]

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/2016 02:27PM by Ombligo.

That looked like a mobile crane.

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ztirffritz
That looked like a mobile crane.

From Ombligo's video, it appears to be.

I've worked with crane operators dozens of times working with the roof crews at "The Buick". IMO, this accident shouldn't have happened. With all the safety requirements for crane operations, someone had to have skipped some procedures.

Also, snow and ice wouldn't have been a factor, IMO. Heck, these things are made to operate in all kinds of foul weather. Thunderstorms excluded! (We ALWAYS shut the job down when lightning started heading our way).

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ztirffritz
That looked like a mobile crane.

I assumed it was, since it was more or less in the middle of the street.

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Paul F.
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Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
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ztirffritz
That looked like a mobile crane.

I can't believe that we haven't moved passed beeping out swearing. Would anyone find all of those beeps less annoying than bad words?

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ztirffritz
That looked like a mobile crane.

Yes, a big crawler. A very, very big crawler. That lacked sufficient counterweight. Somebody on the job screwed up big time. Not some mechanical defect or issue unless the counterweight broke loose - or the street caved in which would be an engineering screw up.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

[www.nydailynews.com]
The crane tumbled out of control as workers tried to move the heavy machinery into a secure position because winds topped 20 mph, he said.
"This incident occurred literally as they were lowering the crane to secure it," de Blasio said.

An inspector with the Department of Buildings had been on the site Thursday because workers were extending the crane -- which has a boom length of 565 feet, the mayor told reporters.
DOB reviewed the work and approved it, he said. The crane was installed at 60 Hudson St. on Jan. 30.

"No work was done this morning because the crew made the decision to bring the crane down to the secure position," the mayor said.

yes a very big crawler.
In Seattle our idiot tv news station KIro is trying to scare everyone.
they say this is EXACTLY like all the cranes in downtown Seattle.
they are all tower cranes, nothing in common with the crawler.
Currently there are about 30 tower cranes in Seattle

A good friend of mine worked about a block from there some years ago. I'm glad she's since moved on.

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It is what it is.