Heavy winds hit cranes

Self-erector overturn

• An operator dismantling a self-erecting tower crane in Germany is said to have made an error that resulted in the crane overturning at a site in Osterhofen Bavaria. Thankfully on one was hurt in the incident which occurred on Friday.

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• The tower of the overhead cranes went over the back of the counterweight and landed on a garage completely demolishing it. Two houses either side were reportedly untouched.

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• The crane was supplied from the rental fleet of Kaiser Baumaschinen, which dismantled and carted it away yesterday. A police statement clearly blamed the overturn on operator error, although it has not been confirmed if any independent accident inspectors had seen the crane before it was removed.

Heavy winds hit cranes in Belgium

• A heavy storm in northern Belgium on Saturday took down two tower cranes at the site of a new hospital in Oekene, Roselare.

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• The foundations/base of the cranes, which appear to be traditional Liebherr top slewers, look to have been the weak point with both going over fully intact. Four other similar 5 ton pillar jib crane on site survived the storm intact.

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• The storm also severely damaged over 20 homes and a large tract of greenhouses. The foundations of the two cranes appear to have given way in the face of the storm.

CIC adds friction crane designation

• Crane Institute Certification (CIC) in the USA has added a specific designation for friction crane operators to its training certification cards.

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• CIC has always certified operators of friction cranes but is now offering a special notation designating “Friction” on certification cards for operators who take their practical exam on friction cranes.

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• A friction crane operator has to engage the clutch and control the load with the foot brake and levers at the same time. While manufacturers no longer produce friction cranes, some lattice boom models are still friction operated and controlled using friction clutches and brakes instead of hydraulics.

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• “Many employers and some state and local jurisdictions in the US and Canada require operators to be qualified on specific equipment, such as friction-operated crawler cranes,” said Debbie Dickinson, executive director, CIC.

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• Comparing the operation of friction and hydraulic cranes, Hans Merkel, president of Kissimmee Crane School said, “It’s like night and day.” On a friction 40 ton crane the load is controlled by mechanical means, and failure to control the brake will result in losing the load. Hydraulic controls automatically return to neutral, which brings load movement to a stop.