Here we come again on the crane accident compilation in the month of March. Although much of the focus has been on Suez Canal blockage by the container vessel, we are slightly late in this month edition for the crane accidents. So let’s go and view some of the accident that happened in March.
1. Gantry Crane Collapsed In Expressway Project In Malaysia
22nd March 2021 – Three Chinese nationals were killed while a driver was seriously injured when a gantry crane fell at the construction site of the Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (SUKE).
The Chinese nationals Ding and Jiang died on the spot after falling from a height of 36.6m and the third victim, Mu, fell and was caught between tthe tracks under construction.
The incident happened while the trio is doing maintenance on the tracks and a stop-work order has been issued to carry out the investigation.
New Source: The Edge Markets
2. Crane Overturns Onto Roof in Washington, DC
17th March 2021 – A construction worker was injured last Wednesday when a truck crane/boom truck overturned onto the roof of an occupied house in Washington, DC.
The crane, a 36 ton National Series 1500, was set up with fully extended outriggers and had around 36 metres of boom extended to lift building materials on to the roof of a new building when the load was reportedly dropped to quickly and stopped causing a dynamic load that was sufficient to tip the crane. The injured man was preparing to accept the load which it dropped, we understand that he was later released from hospital without serious injuries.
New Source: Vertikal
3. Rough Terrain Overturned In Bermuda
22nd March 2021 – A Rough Terrain crane overturned on a hotel construction site in Bermuda yesterday trapping and injuring the operator in his cab.
The incident occurred at the St Regis hotel in St George where the Terex crane was, we understand, traversing an uneven side slope when it rolled landing on the cab. An excavator with a web sling attempted to right the crane, but in the end, the fire crews used airbags to raise the crane sufficiently in order to extract the operator who was found to have suffered a leg injury.
New Source: Vertikal
4. A tower crane collapsed at a construction site in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
26th March 2021 – According to the construction union, at 2:50 pm on the 26th, a tower crane, about 60 meters high, fell down at the Uijeongbu Knowledge Industry Center’s construction site. While raising the tower crane, the top portion of the tower crane collapsed onto the ground. The operator whom was in the cabin during the time of the accident died while undergoing surgery at 6 am on 27th March 2021.
At the time of the accident, it was reported that four erectors was working around the tower crane, but they have not suffered any injuries.
The union believes that the accident has occurred when the erectors are raising the tower crane without properly tightening the bolts on the mast. The photos released by the union show that 12 of the 16 bolts on the inverted tower crane mast scaffold were not being fastened.
“I have to do the raise work with all 16 bolts fastened, but it seems that the work was enforced with only 4 bolts fastened,” said Choi Dong-ju, head of the union tower crane subcommittee. It is judged that an accident occurred while trying to reduce the time required and simplify the work process.”
Chairman Choi said, “As 75% of the deaths of tower cranes occur in the installation and decommissioning teams, the government has prepared countermeasures to provide practical training on tower cranes that differ in operating methods for each model and brand, rather than one-time safety training “You have to go ahead” he pointed out.
New Source: Maeil Labor News, Daily Hankooki
5. Crane Tire Burst In Fukushima, Causing Property Damage & Power Outage
12th April 2021 – A crane’s tire in Fukushima burst while it was working, causing the tire to fly and damaged the property nearby and electrical tower nearby. This has caused a temporary power outage. The incident has happened around 5 pm in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, if you did not discover it, the crane is a special application crane as there was a drilling rig attached to the side of the boom.
New Source: Fukushimbun Online
6. Taroko Express Train Crash – Caused By Lorry Crane
2nd April 2021 – It has been Taiwan’s worst train accident disaster in seven decades, after a eight-carriage train Taroko express carrying 496 passengers collided with a driverless lorry crane truck causing it to derail. 50 people were killed and more than 200 others injured. The train was en route to the southeastern coastal city of Taitung from New Taipei City.
The Taiwan Transportation Safety Board (TTSB) has recovered a footage taken by 33-year-old train operator Yuan Chun-hsiu’s cabin which shows how the accident has happened. Although part of the video was to determine if the fault was on the train operator that he didn’t stop in time, train’s control system showed Mr Yuan has attempted to stop the train.
The train was traveling at a speed of 125km/h before entering the tunnel and he did applied air brakes, but with the speed and slightly curved path, it was impossible for the train to stop before colliding with the demised truck. According to officials, the train would required 600m or 16.6s to come into complete stop, but when the truck was in view of the train operator, he only had 250m or 6.9s to react to it. All he could do is to lower the train’s speed to 121km/h before the collision.
Below is the retrieved footage from the train’s cabin before the collision.
They have also found a memory card from the dashcam of the lorry crane truck. The truck has slipped down an embankment, rolling down the hill and fallen onto the tracks. Although not the crane’s operation that has directly caused the accident, but the negligence part has definitely plays a major part in the accident.
The truck driver has been granted on bail of NT$500,000 (US$17,500) and not permitted to leave Taiwan and Transport Minister Lin Chia-lung resigned over this tragedy train crash.
The deadly train accident marked Taiwan’s seventh in two years has raised doubts about the island’s state-own rail system amid speculation that safety measure took a back seat in light of the operator’s financial struggles.
New Source: SCMP
7. Mobile Crane Toppled In Taiwan
8th April 2021 – Days after the major crash of Taroko Express accident, the New Taipei City Government asked the bureaus and departments to make improvements during the municipal meeting. Unexpectedly, before any new measure could be in place, another crane accident has incurred.
The mobile crane was working MRT Sanying Line construction site toppled after losing its stability. New Taipei MRT Bureau It was pointed out that the cause of the incident was improper operation by the personnel, and a fine of 20,000 to 30,000 yuan will be imposed in accordance with the contract.
The Sanying Line Project is currently constructing steel bridge hoisting operations in the Three Gorges section. However, the mobile crane when completed lifting of the steel arch bridge, moved the crane without retracting the crane’s boom, causing it to lose stability and toppled.
It seems that Taiwan really needs to improve in crane safety aspect as well as construction safety aspect.
New Source: UDN (Mandarin)
8. Tower Crane Toppled In KL Malaysia After Heavy Rain
13th April 2021 – A heavy storm started at 6 pm local time in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and the strong wind has caused one of the tower cranes at the Lendlease’s The Exchange TRX project site to toppled. The crane’s jib has fallen due to the strong wind and heavy rain, but fortunately, no one was injured during the incident, according to a new release from Lendlease.
Although there wasn’t much news on this incident, we have managed to get some videos to show the heavy downpour during the accident.
New Source: The Edge Market
9. Woman Killed After Crane Runs Over Her In Rudrapur, India
10th April 2021 – A 55-year-old woman died after a hydraulic crane ran over her at Indira Chowk in Rudrarpur on Saturday evening. The victim, identified as Miniti Biswas, an anganwadi worker from Mnapur village of Uttar Pradesh’s Bilaspure, had come to Rradrapur for some personal work.
Sources said that she was hit by the crane as soon as she got out of the bus in which she was travelling. Incidentally, city circle officer Amit Kumar was on the spot along with administrative officials identifying danger areas on NH-87. The crane driver was caught on the spot.
News Source: Times Of India
10. Boom Truck Crane Overturned In California
A boom truck crane overturned onto a house in Rancho Palos Los Verdes, California while lifting a load of steel beams into the rear garden in preparation to the installation of solar panels.
The crane, owned by 4A Crane Service, had its main boom fully extended when the ground gave way beneath the load side rear outrigger, causing the crane to overturn. The boom sliced into the roof of the house, causing considerable damage. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident.
Below is the local news report for more details of the incident.
News Source: Vertikal
11. All Terrain Crane Collapsed In Queensland, Australia
30th April 2021 – A four-axle All Terrain crane overturned onto three homes in Nirimba, a new suburb on the south western edge of the Sunshine Coast, near Caloundra in Queensland Australia.
The 80-tonne Demag AC80-1 was owned by Nationwide Crane Hire and the crane toppling seems to be caused by the outrigger/ground issues.
One of the apartments was occupied during the incident, but thankfully no one was hurt or injured. The crane company has organised accommodation for the residents overnight while planning to recover the crane the following day.
News Source: Vertikal
12. Loader Crane Smashed Into Train Station in Switzerland
21st April 2021 – A loader crane boom has smashed into the Schaffhausen train station in Switzerland last week after the driver, 61, forget to stow it. The crane’s boom, which was mounted to the rear of the truck penetrated the SSB Cargo section of the building, which is where the traffic police are also based.
No one was injured but the damage is substantial. See the recovery video below:
News Source: Vertikal
13. Crawler Crane’s Boom Collapsed In Singapore
20th April 2021 – A crawler crane’s boom working at a worksite along Tanah Merah Coast Road in the early morning. The construction company is China Communications Construction Company Limited (Singapore Branch) and it was reported that the crawler crane was lifting a steel casing used for piling works when the boom collapsed.
No one was injured and Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is investigating the incident.
News Source: Channel News Asia
14. Fatal Crane Accident In Texas, Two Killed
23rd April 2021 – The crawler crane that was working on the road in Beaumont, Texas, when its boom collapsed onto a passing Toyota pickup truck, killing both passengers in the car.
The unfortunate event occurred on Interstate 10 when the boom of the American 5300 crawler appears to have buckled, with the boom tip landing on the cab of the truck. The driver, Sarfaraz Karowadia, 37 and his passenger, Altaf Kasoowadia, 42, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Johnson Bros, along with TxDOT, is investigating the cause of the accident that involved subcontractor Hemphill Construction. Check out the news below for more information about the accident.
(Updated on 12th Jan 2021) – The crawler crane is said to belong to Hemphill WBE Pile Driving Co. and the cause of the accident was an incorrect assembly of the crane boom sequence from the operating manual and overloaded the crane while trying to pull a diesel hammer and its components sideways.
The OSHA has investigated and found the company violated three willful and two serious safety violations and proposed penalties of a total of $212,000.
News Source: Vertikal
15. Crane Fell while lifting fell tree in Osaka, Japan
4th March 2021 – At the Kurohimeyama Tumulus in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, there was an accident in which a rough terrain crane collapsed while logging trees fell on the tumulus.
This accident occurred after 11:00 am on March 4, when a landscaper tried to start logging at the Kurohimeyama Tumulus, a nationally designated historic site in Mihara Ward, Sakai City.
The rough terrain crane that lift and supported the trees to be cut suddenly lost its balance and fell to the tumulus side. According to the news, the operator was in the cockpit of the crane, but there were no injuries.
There are no major damage to the tumulus itself in this accident.
It is said that the Kurohimeyama Tumulus was built in the middle of the 5th century by influential people in the area, but it is not included in the World Heritage Mozu-Furuichi Tumulus Group.
