Crane business

A reader in the USA has sent us a photograph of an old crane that perhaps one of you can identify?

Liebherr is providing four free one day training courses in the UK on covering the influence of wind on crane operations.

The Gottwald HMK260E (pictured here) is capable of lifting up to 100 tonnes with all the speed and accuracy needed when handling high value project cargo.

The latest casualty of wind those farm roads that are unsuited for cranes or big aerial lifts is a 103 metre WT1000 truck mounted aerial lift which rolled at the Gordonbush wind farm in Scotland.

Contractor Bowmer & Kirkland has been fined £280,000 for the 2009 collapse of a tower crane in Liverpool that left the operators paralysed. Structural engineer Bingham Davis, which has since ceased trading, was also found culpable and fined a nominal £1,000.

A 100 tonne crane boom buckled while lifting bridge beams in Northern Norway earlier this week. The crane, owned by Vest Kran, was working from a massive barge, installing a new bridge in Vikan, near Bodø when the incident occurred. No one was injured.

Two UK contractors, Bowmer & Kirkland and Bingham Davis have been found guilty of breaching health and safety laws following the collapse of a tower crane in Liverpool in 2009. They will be sentenced on Friday.

A crane operator died yesterday after the boom truck he was operating overturned at the dockside in Seward, Alaska. The operator, Feliz Morales, 52, was reportedly lifting nets from a boat, when his crane overturned, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Link-Belt Construction Equipment Company, Lexington, Ky., was presented the Environmental Award by the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) during closing night ceremonies at the association’s Annual Conference, April 17-21, at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines, Austin, Texas. As part of its commitment to “go green with increased awareness and visibility for environmental issues,” SC&RA instituted the award in 2011 to recognize a member company that has made outstanding contributions to environmental protection.

OSHA has elevated the status of the signalperson to an even more critical position within the crane crew. In fact, the Cranes & Derricks rule, passed in the fall of 2010, has eliminated the “casual” signaler altogether.