German crane manufacturer, Liebherr, has released their findings in the collapse of LR11350 in Mecca which has toppled in early September.

It was claimed that the crane was “technically faultless” and the toppling was caused by improper stowage prior to adverse weather.

Referring to the operating instructions as stated in the manual, the associated “Wind Speed Charts” show that the 1,350 ton crawler crane is not unable to withstand such a high wind load and the boom should have been lowered to the ground to prevent the tilting of the crawler crane. The thunderstorm and sandstorm caught up the crane with a wind speed up to 105 km/h when the accident happened.

Photo by AP/Mosa’ab Elshamy.

Liebherr uses this chance to send message to all crane operators to emphasize the importance of knowing the influences that wind can have one cranes.

Read full news at Engineering News-Record.