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Crane collapse in NYC 1

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That was one long/big crane:

Crane_collapse_ydarkg.jpg


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Crane_collapse2_gzfela.jpg


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Wonder if the snow had anything to do with it? Can slipping of the outriggers occur if you have a poor coefficient of friction under them?

Professional and Structural Engineer (ME, NH)
American Concrete Industries
 
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Video of the collapse from the 30th floor of an adjacent building:

Gothamist appears to be actively updating as information comes in:

Gothamist article said:
None of the victims were workers connected to the crane, which is owned by the Bay Crane company. Four buildings were damaged, including New York Law School on West Broadway. The crane's fall impacted gas mains, and officials say there are gas leaks in the area. Several buildings have been evacuated, but none of them were residential.
Workers were in the process of lowering and securing the 565-feet-tall crane this morning before it was toppled over by 25 mph winds. "The crew was directing people away from Worth St. as the crane was being lowered," according to de Blasio.
The crane was inspected by the Buildings Department yesterday because the company had requested permission to extend it to its current 565 feet height. There are some 376 of this type of crane, called a "crawler crane," in use throughout the NYC, and de Blasio has ordered all of them to be lowered and secured in the wake of today's incident. 76 taller "tower cranes" have also been ordered secured.
The crane operator is being interviewed by the NYPD, but it's currently unclear if any criminality is suspected.
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Seems to me the operator kept the boom mainly in the roadway, minimizing the damage to the four buildings. It also appeared to happen very slowly...

As it was snowing, I wonder if icing could have been a factor, increasing the wind force and overturning ice load?...

This could have been a lot worse...

Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA)


 
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More modern cranes also have load-indicating instrumentation, so I would think they would be aware of any icing and its effect.

With the wind at a certain nominal speed, it could be channeled down through the buildings at a higher speed.
 
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Does it look like the boom has a sag in it? I've never seen/been around a crane that large and was wondering if that was normal.
 
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BridgeEI - There is a distinct angle in the boom where the "luffing jib" meets the main boom. That is intentional.

I believe the crane is a Liebherr LR 1300...

News reports state the crane is rated 330 tons, the boom length in use is 565 ft. Those numbers are an exact match for the Liebherr LR 1300.

The company that owns the crane, Bay Crane, has at least four of this model: Link

The photo above is a "spitting image" of this model:

URL]


Based on the specs for the Liebherr LR1300 (see link below), handling 565 ft. of boom, the absolute maximum allowed, would be a real challenge even under ideal condition, which was not the case this morning.

Liebherr LR1300 Specifications

[idea]
[r2d2]
 
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Strikingly similar to the dale in Mecca. These cranes are great, but rely on having a load or being tied down. Once they get close to vertical you loose all control and high winds will basically blow it backwards and there's nothing to stop it once it starts.


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But in this case wasn't the boom being lowered and then took off down? Seems like a mechanical failing like a brake couldn't hold it. The relatively slow descent looked sort of like a slipping brake (that keening sound) that couldn't hold but did slow the boom until the crawler tipped. Once the crawler started over the brake could actually hold since the torque load suddenly reduced.

I'm amazed the driver wasn't squished.

Keith Cress
kcress -
 
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Sorry, i want able to view the video until now. Looks like a failure or error in the lowering procedure and maybe the extra weight of any snow or ice made the difference. The fact the base unit turned over tells you the brakes were working but clearly not enough counter weight to stop the decent

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I'm not understanding what they mean by "lowering it". Were they really going to put it on the ground? All 600 feet of it? How could they do that without a completely cleared street? Or do they mean just lowing it to 5 stories or something?

Keith Cress
kcress -
 
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It was wet snow yesterday morning in NYC; didn't accumulate on the ground.
 
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Mr. smoked: How do you supposed they assembled it and then got it up there? Lowering is done in reverse.
 
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