Crane drops antenna tower section - GIF

[Altair]

Crane drops antenna tower section.




Previously:

Crane drops combine - GIF
Locomotive falls from crane - GIF
Righting toppled crane nearly kills two - GIF
Crane collapses due to bad rigging - GIF
Crane lifting storage tank topples over - GIF
Crane tips over while lifting boat - GIF

[cmarlow]

The jib on the boom buckled. It makes me think the crane was under-rated for the weight of the tower sections, but it might have been a defective jib section on the boom.

[Skun Knuckles]

You can bet your boots the bloke on the tower would’ve been hanging on tight, with all that going on around him!

[hemmjo]

Whew, that guy had to be having some crazy thoughts as things started to get out of control.

[Floradawg]

What are the streamers hanging off the tower?

[bruce.desertrat]

Whew, that guy had to be having some crazy thoughts as things started to get out of control.

And I'll bet about 90% of them were "Ohshitohshitoshitohshit"...

[cmarlow]

What are the streamers hanging off the tower?

Those were likely the guy lines. A tower that thin for its height would have required steel cable guy lines anchored to the ground to give it extra bracing against the wind. If you look at the tower section they took off you also notice it is really more than three sections and the lifting point is a bit low. Those sections should have come off as separate pieces. It is just more reason to suspect the crane was seriously undersized and they were trying to make it work instead of getting a crane large enough to do the job..

[cmarlow]

And I'll bet about 90% of them were "Ohshitohshitoshitohshit"...

Most of the high riggers I worked would not have been that eloquent.

[Hoosiersmoker]

That climber should have had an all expenses paid retirement starting the next day!

[cmarlow]

That climber should have had an all expenses paid retirement starting the next day!

That is not how high riggers think. He was not smushed by falling iron.
The next day, after changing his shorts for clean ones, he would be telling everybody how much fun it was. A kind of humble brag while looking for another tower to climb.
High riggers and iron workers are in a class of their own. They are the daredevils of construction. Walking iron is always on that thin edge between absolute terror and absolute confidence. There is nothing else I know of quite like it. A lot of these guys are parachute jumpers, bikers, base jumpers. You know, all the thrill seeking adrenaline junky stuff.

Early paid retirement? How is that going to pay for my play time? One of the features of this kind of work is it pays big money because not very many people can actually do it. Most people freeze at heights. The downside (?) is most of the jobs are fairly short term, which gives you time to go play. As a scaffold rigger I could pull almost 20 grand before taxes for a 28 day run on a refinery shutdown. The money I got back just on income taxes by taking time off paid for my holidays.