26.02.2016
Double fatality in man basket
Two men in a man basket being lifted by a luffing jib tower crane died after the jib collapsed at a power station in Opole, Poland on Tuesday.
The incident occurred on the site of the upgrade to the coal fired Opole Power Plant, halfway between Wroclaw and Katowice in Southern Poland. The jib collapsed dropping the two men, one was declared dead at the scene, while the other died on arrival at hospital. Both men were employees of Mostostal Plock, a subcontractor of Mostostal Warszawa, one of the members of the consortium building the extension.
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The failed tower crane jib
The Opole Power Plant project is a flagship investment of PGE Polish Energy Group and the largest industrial investment in Poland for more than 25 years at Z11.5 billion ($3 billion). The full consortium comprises Rafako, Mostostal Warszawa and Polimex-Mostostal, in cooperation with Alstom Power, the general designer, supplier of key equipment.
Mike74
I am afraid that there may be logic to be found here, and it is to be associated with the equipment failure. The explanation may be that for whatever reason (electronics or electrics failure?), the jib winch brake did not engage when the engine stopped to work. The luffing jib fell loose till it was caught by the assemblying suspenders, used on this type of crane (seems to be a 96 tonnes capable Wilbert owned by Sarens, by the way). At this point the jib broke it's welds by own momentum, and twisted to the right. Reportedly the crane operator had to be taken to the mental hospital, but I cannot confirm it. Might be worth noting, that had the situation looked like described above, a cool-headed operator might have been able to save the day by engaging the luffing motor on the "down" direction.
cfk88
Something doesn't add up for sure. Hopefully in time the details will come out so we can all learn lessons from this tragic incident. RIP
Eric L
Tragic news, but there has to be more to the story, there is no logic in having such a catastrophic jib failure lifting a man basket...