grump 2

[grump]

Manchester England 1968 Liebert Tower Crane
Height approx 120ft (40mtrs) Jib approx 130ft(43mtrs) counter jib 30ft (10mtrs) Counter Weight 29tons
Job To raise the jib.Procedure fit 25mm wire rope from centre jib over A frame to hoisting motor loosen clamp holding wire rope. 130jib now being held by a couple of turns on hoisting drum. Instruct crane driver to slowly raise jib, Almighty Bang jib drops approx 10ft (3mtrs)dead man's handle brings brake on,rock n roll,jib now being held by quarter turn on drum, don't panic, check found hoist motor resistors blown apart . It was decided to get another tower crane to hook on to our jib, while we decided how we were going to overcome the problem,not a good idea. Second crane decides to take the full weight of our jib,even bigger bang, as 29 ton counter weight pulls crane into collapse mode all goes quiet as second cranes wire rope 5ton max lifting is holding up approx 40tons ,don't panic, two erectors made it into the drivers cabin me and the driver made it into the tower above his cabin when she went over,the two erectors had minor injuries me and the driver were in out hospital for a couple of years.now the question is how did the erectors get past us into the relative safety of the cabin without saying a word to us in the seconds we were being held up by the 5ton rope.To be continued ,grump

[Grizzly]

Grump.
I take it your National Insurance is up to date?
Grizzly.

[grump]

Grizzly.
Thank for your reading my ramblings,it certainly was ZW -- -- -- A