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Sign & Crane Accident mixed with Power Lines


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Steve from UFB Fabrication sent this to me and it took some time trying to figure out how to post on here, but it got done!

 

BTW - This work was not performed by a Sign Shop

 

 

 

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. - Winston Churchill

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  • !llumenati

Obviously human error !

 

The entire sling and lifting set up was wrong from the start.  As soon as it lifted off, the sign flipped and it was to late.

 

Did you see the Real Sign Company truck drive by just before the fall. 

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The crane was plenty big enough to lift that structure, with the proper set up, that structure has 11 cabinets that weigh somewhere in the range of say 250#'s each (rough guesstimate) those three poles I'm guessing around 1800#'s each and then miscellaneous cross braces, say another 1000#'s for those. Total guesstimated weight is roughly 9150#'s.  That is a 105 foot 30 ton crane, it can lift two of those structures with the proper set up.

 

Lifting over the side of the crane like that with a boom angle such as this one is never a good idea. Also the way they had it rigged make NO sense at all, Now if he were to set up closer and have the boom more straight up I don't believe this would have happened.

 

Did anyone else notice the propane torch tank in the bed of the pickup that the boom landed on? The boom missed it by merely inches. With the sparks from the electrical contact and the propane, that could have been a hell of a lot worse!

Edited by tdewitt
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Totally agree with all the posters regarding crane capacity. That crane was plenty for the task.

 

Not sure how stupid you have to be to rig a sign up from the center? I think most people 5 years and older who've used a teeter totter could figure that out.  The boom was already at less than a 45 degree angle on pickup....side of a steep incline on unstable earth that had just been excavated from the look of it.

 

I'm going to assume they are widening the road and the sign was going to be disposed of. Those cabinets would have been trash as soon as it torqued in any direction....let along the crappy rigging.

 

Probably only had one crane, so couldn't get to the top to properly mount it...used an extension ladder to rig it up as high as they could reach.

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somebody new what was going to happen, they were already filming.  Trying to get famous on youtube?

 

63 foot Elliott v60

50 foot 8 ton crane/auger

Skid steer with forks and dirt bucket


www.signworksinc.com

www.wehangsigns.com

Signworks Inc.
Toronto, Canada
416-653-7227
1-877-912-7446

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

As operating and teaching the sign erectors crane course here on Ontario. Other comments were correct about the rigging, special attention should have been addressed to the power lines, angle of boom a factor. 

The other possible problem was where the the site had been excavated, was the area of the outriggers, stable and compacted soil.

The forces on the crane and surrounding soils would be great. due to weight of sign, angle of boom, length of stick.

Dave

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 Common sense is free and  some people refuse to use it. To me it looks like they were trying to get famous on YouTube

 

63 foot Elliott v60

50 foot 8 ton crane/auger

Skid steer with forks and dirt bucket


www.signworksinc.com

www.wehangsigns.com

Signworks Inc.
Toronto, Canada
416-653-7227
1-877-912-7446

 

 

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I agree with the comments. It sure looks like a rigging mistake. Removals are much more dangerous than installs because the difficulty in predicting the balance point creates a potential to swing. 

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Agree.  The rigging was totally asinine.  Did they ever consider center of gravity?   Aside from the impending OSHA certification, companies should take on the responsibility of properly training their personnel on rigging and lifting..

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As a long time sign installer, you could see their rigging setup was going to fail from the get-go, as many here have also mentioned. It's become more and more common for GCs to be awarded projects and try their hand at sign work. This game sure isn't like lifting air-conditioners. 

 

Lucky. This could have been much, much worse. 

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