Imploding 8 steel cables on a huge dragline crane boom

When you think implosions, it's typically an explosive demolition involving a building, or even a bridge. But sometimes the implosion jobs are a little more specialized, as is the case in this instance.

Controlled Demolition Inc. were subcontracted for implosion duties by Southern Salvage Inc. of Florida to perform an explosive severance of steel cabling. These cables, 8 of them, were holding up the dragline boom on a fairly sizable crane. By breaking them, the boom could fall safely to the ground for a future salvage operation.

As you can see, the implosion went off without a hitch.

So you think you don't need Temporary Works Designer, Co-ordinator and Supervisor training?

Both the NDTG and C&D are currently running Temporary Works Co-ordinator and Supervisor training courses to prepare people for the work involved when carrying out temporary works on site, such as hoarding erection and loading of slabs in a temporary condition and I bet the site manager on this contract wished that he had been on the course!

When applying temporary loads to slabs it is a great idea to check that the slab will actually take the loads you intend to apply to them otherwise you may end up with a costly mistake such as this one in Australia.

A brand new crane on it's first ever job positioned on a slab that was not designed to take point loads. Here's what happened:








Why not book your place on the temporary works course now, and whilst you are doing so how about booking an appointed person course at the same time? Contact margaret@demolishdismantle.co.uk for further details.

Liebherr show off world's largest conventional crawler crane lifting cranes

Liebherr traditionally hold open days in June, and last year they showed existing and potential future customers quite a treat. Liebherr decided to demonstrate the lifting load capacity of the world's largest conventional crawler crane, the LR 13000. The LR 13000 was used to lift the next largest crane, the 1,080 tonne LR 11350, which were holding LR 1350 and LR 1100, which together weigh in at 350 tonnes.

You can see what the 3,000 attendees saw at last year's open day in the video above. While I wouldn't want to have to write the lifting plan for this, I can't wait to see what Liebherr have planned for 2013's open day next month.

Excavators dismantle leaning Chinese tower block from the top down

The building regulations in China leave a lot to be desired, if they are followed at all. But one of the growing problems in the region is newly built tower blocks starting to lean shortly after being built. The problem seems to be with the land they are being built on.

A lot of new buildings are sprotuing up across China built on land reclaimed from the sea or some other body of water. The problem is, that land does not settle evenly, meaning a heavy structure on top of it is going to sink. In the case of the tower block you see above, it started leaning almost immediately after building work was completed. The construction company then attempted to reinforce the base, but one of the main support pillars broke a few months later rendering the structure dangerous.

As you can see below, lots of health and safety rules are being broken to demolish it. Those machines have been lifted on top of the building by a crane and are working precariously to break up all the concrete floor-by-floor. We hope they can finish before the other support pillars decide to crumble.

Source: Daily Mail

500-ton crane topples in Washington

A crane brought in to help deal with damage caused by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake in Washington near the National Cathedral has toppled over during a thunderstorm.

The crane was carrying a heavy load of steel when the driver noticed lightning and decided he needed to move the crane into a safer position: without the arm being up. As he started to lower the steel the center of gravity of the crane shifted and it flipped over.

The driver was injured, but not too severely. There doesn't seem to be any other victims, but 3 cars were damaged as was a small building called Herb Cottage that offers gifts for the National Cathedral.

At the moment it's unclear why the crane flipped as it did. The weather conditions were very bad with heavy rain, thunder, and lightning. The other problem now is President Obama is set to speak at the Cathedral this weekend to remember 9/11. No one knows if that is still going to go ahead.

Source:  Tucone

Russians show us how not to crane lift a pipe

A very old looking crane and a very heavy looking pipe. This has disaster written all over it, and it nearly is.

It looks as though the line holding one end of the pipe in the air fails as workers try to hook the other end. The man standing on the machine to the right when this happens is very lucky not to get crushed, and if the pipe had slid at its base who knows what could have happened to the man standing at the end with the hook.

The force of the release pushes the crane in the opposite direction and ultimately on to its side. They are going to need another crane now to rectify the first.

Source: The Construction Index

Always check your crane can take the load before lifting

This is a classic case of not realizing how heavy the object is you are trying to lift. In this case the driver lucks out as the load is a boat and it falls into water so damage will be minimal.

As for the crane, I think they're going to need another one to get it back on all its wheels.

How not to use a crane on a river bank

This is a good example of how the job isn't just about using a crane to move materials. You have to prepare the ground for the heavy crane before starting work, especially if you are on the edge of a river where the ground is sure to be loose and wet.

It doesn't look as though anyone was hurt. The crane driver had enough sense and composure to turn his cab around, and everyone else made a run for it. I hate to think how much it's going to cost to right that crane and fix the damage incurred.