11.09.2015

Wind crawler overturn

A narrow track crawler crane overturned on a wind farm in the Emsland region of North West Germany yesterday as it travelled between turbines.

We are not quite sure which crane it was, local reports suggest it was a 200 tonne telescopic, while others say a 500 tonner. We were unaware of any cranes of that size or type on a special wind farm chassis. We now know that it is a Liebherr LTR 11200 telescopic.

The crane was travelling with boom up and raised luffing jib along witb a good deal of counterweight. The three metre wide track is edged with special paving blocks, which on this section had been apparently been disturbed. As the crane moved past or over them they gave way and the crane rolled over sideways and into a ditch.
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The overturned crane

It was being operated by remote control at the time and no one was hurt in the incident. If you know any more about what happened we would be happy to hear from you. It occurred at the Emsland farm in Neusustrum where nine older turbines dating back to 1998 are being replaced with new larger ones with hub heights of 149 metres by Enercon. An investigation into what happened is ongoing.
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A view from behind