It is now 15 years since Cranes & Access first published a feature highlighting these issues, following a spate of crane and work platform incidents - some of which were fatal - caused purely by the absence of mats or spreader plates when working on ground that was clearly suspect.
Since then awareness has grown and an increasing number of companies take the issue very seriously, to the point where an entire industry has developed, offering a vast array of products all designed to enable heavy equipment to work on or drive over soft or sensitive ground. But has it made any difference? Looking at the number of incidents reported on the lifting news website Vertikal.net you would be forgiven for thinking not. There are still a significant number of crane and platform overturns caused by either a lack of ground preparation or the absence of mats to spread the point loadings generated by outrigger jacks, heavily loaded wheels or tracks. It seems that there is still a long, long way to go before the problem is eradicated.
The use of outrigger mats and spreader plates has increased exponentially - particularly in Europe - and anecdotal evidence would suggest that the number of incidents resulting from outrigger setup issues has decreased, while rental companies are more than happy to supply mats with their machines. Certainly more people are aware of the problem, and it can be argued that the continuing high number of incident reports, owes more to the ease of reporting, thanks to the spread of the internet and arrival of a camera in everyone’s pocket in the form of a mobile phone, than an absence of progress.
Easy to avoid
So why are we still seeing so many overturns that could so easily have been avoided?
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2019-Ausgabe von Cranes & Access.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2019-Ausgabe von Cranes & Access.
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The Changing Face Of The Scissor Lift Market
The majority of self-propelled scissor lifts have been electric powered since the market began to take off in the late 1970s, gathering pace in the mid 1980s. With almost 90 percent of all scissor lifts already battery powered we take a look at the remaining 10 to 15 percent of the market that remains diesel powered – mostly full size Rough Terrain models. This, along with a look at some of the latest new product launches in the rest of the scissor lift market.
Wind safety developments
A serious wind farm accident in 2008 led to a decade long process of safety improvements in the sector and offers a casebook example of how to build an understanding of safety between all those involved. Will North spoke to two of those leading the efforts, Klaus Meissner and Ton Klijn, who explain the resources available to ensure safe lifting on wind farms.
Rising winds
As a new generation of larger, higher, wind turbines become commonplace around the world, wind farm developers will need to look at employing larger lattice and telescopic crawler cranes to install them. Will north reports.
Edilgru MH 1000-30/32
Edilgru is an Italian manufacturer of self-erecting tower cranes. CGM Models of Italy has produced this 1:50 scale model which is substantially made of high-quality plastic, rather than being diecast. It comes in an Edilgru branded box, but there are no instructions included, which is a pity as they would be helpful.
Bringing Battersea Back To Life
London’s iconic art deco style coal-fired Battersea Power Station was constructed in various stages between 1929 and the mid-1950s. By 1983 however the entire site was decommissioned to be left empty and decaying on the south bank of the River Thames until 2013 when work was approved to begin a long-term restoration and transformation project set to cost £9 billion.
The higher hundreds
In the second of a two-part report, Will North looks at All Terrain cranes between 130 and 180 tonnes. While some models in this class target taxi crane work, it also marks the point where five-axle carriers become standard with most models designed for project work.
Spiders gaining traction
The results from our survey of the tree care sector in last month’s issue of cranes & Access highlighted how spider lifts are the platform of choice for arborists. In the following pages we take a look at the latest spider lift products and features on the market to see why they are proving so popular. We also speak with CMC's UK distributor Tracked Spider Sales and UK rental company Spiderlift.
Unconventional power
Conventional fuels may be the energy source of yesterday, and renewables the innovation of the present, but tomorrow’s fuel could well be fusion power. The name of ITeR, originally the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, puns on the latin ‘The Way'. The project is supported by the european union, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the united States. The global joint venture partners clearly believe fusion power is the way forward.
XCMG XGC220T
The XCMG XGC220T is a telescopic crawler crane with a capacity of 220 tonnes. This model by Yagao comes in an XCMG branded box and includes an instruction sheet printed in Chinese and English.
Luke Reddish - CPA Lifting Technician of the Year
This year’s CPA Stars of the Future ‘Lifting Technician of the Year’ award was won by Luke Reddish, 28, of Wolffkran - one of the first crane companies to adopt the new Lifting Technician Trailblazer Apprenticeship. Wolffkran’s Samuel Slocombe was also highly commended.
