What happened? The crane collapse accident happened as day workers on a high-rise condominium under construction added two or more 13-foot sections to increase the crane's height, a process known as climbing the crane. When done, the crane's tower had reached a height of more than 200 feet or about 20 stories which was topped by a cab and jib extending farther. Then the workers started to brace the crane by positioning a steel collar around the outside of the crane's tower at the building's 18th floor. The collar weighed about 12,000 pounds and was made from two
U-shaped pieces of steel joined together. The collar was to be secured to the tower and then tied by steel struts to the building.
As the work continued, the 12,000 pound collar was suspended high above the ground from metal hoists, known as chain blocks, connected to a higher section of the steel tower with slings made of thick nylon webbing.
As workers were maneuvering the 12,000 pound collar into place, the collar broke free and plummeted down the crane's tower, like a ring around a steel tube sliding down. It slammed into another collar already in place at the ninth floor, shearing it from the struts that held it to the building and carrying it down to smash into yet another collar at the third floor.
Neither moored nor balanced, the structure teetered and fell, pulling the crane down onto the buildings to the south.
Officials are focusing part of their construction investigation on the way the 12,000 pound steel collar was being installed, including whether a series of hoists and nylon straps used to hold it temporarily in place were strong enough to sustain its weight.
Four construction workers, the crane operator and three riggers, who were helping to increase the height of the crane, were killed. Construction has been halted during the investigation which will look into human error, mechanical error, or whether the procedures are adequate or not.
Each time construction workers cleared a section of the rubble, rescue workers descended on a ladder and then crawled farther into the collapsed ruins, armed with listening devices to search for signs of life.
Seventeen buildings were evacuated, and most people were still not able to get inside. Most displaced people found lodging with relatives or made other arrangements.
The crane was owned by New York Crane & Equipment Corporation, but it had apparently been leased to one of the contractors involved in the project, an Elizabeth, N.J., subcontractor known as Joy Contractors Inc., identified as JCI in Building Department documents. The crane installation was designed and approved by an engineer based in West Babylon, N.Y.
The lead developer on the project was a retired firefighter with a law degree who branched out into real estate. He has done about two dozen projects since he opened his own development company in the mid-1980s, but the this building which is to rise to 43 stories, with 180 condominium apartments, was by far the largest. The biggest building he built before was a 14-story apartment building.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/nyregion/17cnd-crane.html?em&ex=1205899200&en=36f5ba4f08078bc7&ei=5087%0A
