ronan
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Barking Mat
Cuddler of hedgehogs.
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I've personally seen two crane accidents, both driver error.
WorkshopChris
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I would imagine those selecting them are only concerned with the cheapest way possible to build whatever they are building. These cranes are everywhere now, was watching one operate out of the window in hospital for a few weeks, the speed the job was progressing was very impressive operatives on the ground working away like ants. But the same work was compleated for years without the big cranes just lots more men and time into the job.
Funnily enough, as I wander my weary way around this green and pleasant land, I love looking at churches and cathedrals. I'm not in the slightest bit religious, but I marvel at the craftsmanship of these structures.
It occurs to me quite often that I honestly don't think it would be possible to build something of that scale these days. I was in Preston a while back, within spitting distance of the church of Saint Walburge. The spire is over 300 feet high and is truly magnificent, but can you imagine the risk assessments that would have to be carried out to build that nowadays?
I regularly doff my metaphorical cap to the folk of yesteryear who built these great edifices using basic tools, plumb lines, and rope blocks.
The_Yellow_Ardvark
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Go to the Nile delta and place along the river.
They are still restoring the temples, fort and similar the same way. As nothing modern has been found to better it.
In the last 40 years, in the renovation of some of the remains they have made more advances on how they were built than they had in the last 200 years.
Big difference is, steel for rollers, not cedar and electric lights.
They are still using rush lights in the decoration stages, as it shows up any errors they have made.
gaz1
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Agroshield
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Other type is known as saddle jib. Luffers are used a lot now in city sites as there are issue with overflying permissions of adjoining properties.
Saddle jibs have a long back end and fixed length front end, so if you have multiple cranes on a site, you either have to stack them so one overflies the other or put them far enough apart so they cannot crash into each other (leaving part of your site not reachable).
A lot of sites use what is called a SMIE system (https://www.en.smie.com/anticollision), which is a computer which can be set to limit the crane's movement (so you cannot jib out fully when you are facing the railway, but you can do so when facing away). It can also be used on multi-crane sites to stop them crashing into each other. This also means the luffers can all be the same height (and you only need a mobile to erect the first one; the first then erects the second and so on).
Thanks for the further info, I'd assumed it was something to do with lifting capacity so that's insightful, didn't even realise there was such things as overflying permissions. Hopefully whoever programs that information into them is paying attention on the day an extra zero or a decimal in the wrong place and there's a potential disaster. There's been some videos recently from in the cabs of them swinging the jibs to shadow sunbathers until they move then swinging the jib back over them once they're settled in their new position
I've always had a fascination with the things both from the engineering and height point of view, even found myself in the crows nest of one of the saddle jib ones a number of years ago
A couple of years ago I collected a decommissioned telecomms set up from the top of a block of flats in Liverpool.
(Interestingly, it was bang across the river from Cammel Laird's shipyard where they were building the new RRS Sir David Attenborough, and just a couple of weeks before it was launched.) The set up was too far out of reach for my 25 metre reach hiab, so the main contractor hired in a mobile Leibherr tower crane from John Sutch Crane Hire of Liverpool, a bit like this:
Iirc, it ran on 5 axles under Special Types regulations and weighed 75 tons, had a 60 metre vertical column and a 30 metre boom, and was a stunning piece of engineering! When the outriggers were deployed, the entire crane unfolded itself like a supersized Praying Mantis, and it even featured a lift to take the operator up to the control cab. Surprisingly for something that allegedly cost £1.5 million, it cost about the same to hire as a conventional mobile crane.
(Interestingly, it was bang across the river from Cammel Laird's shipyard where they were building the new RRS Sir David Attenborough, and just a couple of weeks before it was launched.) The set up was too far out of reach for my 25 metre reach hiab, so the main contractor hired in a mobile Leibherr tower crane from John Sutch Crane Hire of Liverpool, a bit like this:
Iirc, it ran on 5 axles under Special Types regulations and weighed 75 tons, had a 60 metre vertical column and a 30 metre boom, and was a stunning piece of engineering! When the outriggers were deployed, the entire crane unfolded itself like a supersized Praying Mantis, and it even featured a lift to take the operator up to the control cab. Surprisingly for something that allegedly cost £1.5 million, it cost about the same to hire as a conventional mobile crane.
Agroshield
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The self-erecting tower cranes are quite a sight. The jib will luff upwards as well if you need height but less reach. I wonder how many bent parts they had when first trying to make one fold itself up.
I wonder if it is the roads or the axle regs. here but we seem keen on small mobile cranes here in UK (25t city cranes, 6 & 8 wheel 40, 60 and 80 tonners), whereas in Europe, they like the huge hiabs with extending jibs (many examples at http://www.ditzj.de/html/en/index.html) some of which pull a drawbar trailer.
northwest
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Now, I might be totally wrong here but in every report (this one above, BBC et al) they refer to it as a 20 metre crane. It does look a tad bigger than 20 metres to me?
The_Yellow_Ardvark
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This problem with something like that terrible accident/incident in the modern on line world is this.
There will always be those who think they know and will tell anyone who will listen that what they think they know will be the truth.
The old "Bloke down the pub told me" and in this day and age it is the keyboard expert told me.
We in the general public will never know the full truth behind it as we are not in the loop. Even the news broadcast will give the minimum they deem to be of interest. Then it will fade from the public view and will be a tragic incident.
A recent terrible incident that is hardly talked about now. After receiving many, many hours of TV news time, newspaper time, on line time and now is a foot note or filler story is Greenville tower fire. Just look here how much space was taken up with us all putting out "Five eggs in" and now look at the time it gets on here.
I am not saying it is less sad or has less impact, it just moves on and a new incident takes over. The lives all incidents effect are terrible. Just unless you are directly connected you move on.
We can hope that what happened, what ever caused it is found and steps are made to try to stop it happening again.
There will always be those who think they know and will tell anyone who will listen that what they think they know will be the truth.
The old "Bloke down the pub told me" and in this day and age it is the keyboard expert told me.
We in the general public will never know the full truth behind it as we are not in the loop. Even the news broadcast will give the minimum they deem to be of interest. Then it will fade from the public view and will be a tragic incident.
A recent terrible incident that is hardly talked about now. After receiving many, many hours of TV news time, newspaper time, on line time and now is a foot note or filler story is Greenville tower fire. Just look here how much space was taken up with us all putting out "Five eggs in" and now look at the time it gets on here.
I am not saying it is less sad or has less impact, it just moves on and a new incident takes over. The lives all incidents effect are terrible. Just unless you are directly connected you move on.
We can hope that what happened, what ever caused it is found and steps are made to try to stop it happening again.
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The_Yellow_Ardvark
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John Parr is a sad reminder. Along side George Edwin Ellison, now just names on TV shows.
Agroshield
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That is slightly misleading.
With the crane collapse, the HSE will investigate and at some point will publish a report on their website that is freely downloadable to anyone who wants to read it. You can go and look at previous reports: the Liverpool one is there, the Canary Wharf one is there.
Similarly with Grenfell Tower. The investigating authorities will publish their report and it will be available to anyone who wants to read it.
With the internet, it is so much easier to disseminate this stuff than in days gone by. In the past, for example, if you wanted to read the Windscale Report, you would have to physically go to a place and sit somewhere turning the pages of a paper document.
