04.07.2014

Self-erector goes over

A self-erecting tower crane overturned yesterday flattening a van and narrowly missing a passing car in the German town of Geldern, north east of Duisburg.

Amazingly no one was injured in the incident, the operator- using a remote controller - was some distance from the crane and the van was unoccupied at the time. While the tower came down on the side street, the jib landed in the main road, where a driver of a passing car was able to slam his brakes on and manage to avoid the falling structure.
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The jib landed in main road

The contractor that owns the crane, claimed that its overload system failed, causing an inadvertent overload situation as the operator raised a load. However it is also possible that the incident was base related.
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The crane was quickly cut up and removed by a local steel erection company

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The crane's base

The crane was cut into sections and quickly removed from the street.
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A builder's van took the full force of the falling tower