Two cranes collapse during bridge restoration in the Netherlands , Video

The cranes collapsed during an operation to move a section of roadway yesterday , it's reported at least 20 people were injured and a row of houses was flattened.

Several buildings were practically flattened and rescue workers were searching for anyone trapped underneath, Dutch broadcaster NOS reported.
Emergency responders in Alphen aan den Rijn confirmed the accident on Twitter, but provided no details. Dozens of emergency vehicles were at the scene.
The bridge, over the Old Rhine river was being renovated after surveys in 2010 had shown that its steel superstructure was in poor condition. The renovation, which began in the spring was expected to last the whole summer.
uk.reuters.com...

Hopefully nobody was seriously injured.

a reply to: gortex

Woops!! Someone didn't do their stability calcs and subsequent discharge plan correctly now did they!!!

There will no-doubt be a few sackings, ass kickings and possibly jailings over this little humdinger.

Thank God no-one was seriously injured, I feel for those without a home as a consequence of this FUBAR.

a reply to: Sublimecraft

Aside from the fact they're lifting such a weight on a barge the cranes seem to be at one end of the barge , I'm no engineer but basic common sense say's that alone is a recipe for disaster.
More calculation less shmoking I'm thinking.

Tandem lifts can be tricky, I swamped on a 40 ton for several years.
Thankfully I was never around any that tipped, seen lots of other crap get broken though.

It looks to me like the barge itself twisted thus tipping the back crane and it all went down hill from there.

originally posted by: ShadowLink
Tandem lifts can be tricky, I swamped on a 40 ton for several years.
Thankfully I was never around any that tipped, seen lots of other crap get broken though.

It looks to me like the barge itself twisted thus tipping the back crane and it all went down hill from there.

I am not accustomed to seeing tandem lifts like this. As you are an experienced swamper, I am interested to hear if you think the one crane 'got ahead' of the other one, if only slightly.
The idea of a tandem lift from a barge that is listing to begin with seems like a shaky proposition to me.

a reply to: butcherguy

It's very possible one got ahead of the other.
That whole lift looks wrong though. Both cranes appear to be on the back corner of the barge which is probably not the ideal place for balance, especially on a floating barge.

I know in my previous post I said it looks like the barge twisted perhaps cause the cranes are on the back corner, but watching the video again NOT in full screen its a little clearer that the barge listed as you said.

The weight of the bridge section would be nice to know. 2 cranes off center on a barge lifting something light is more doable than the same lifting something much heavier.

In the second half of the clip it almost seems the bridge section lands leaning on a house without crushing it indicating it's not steel and concrete, probably just steel, but who knows, you can't see what all else is under it.

Also, to be clear, a Swamper is the poor guy on the end of the line running around hooking up all the rigging and doing all the hard work, not the lucky bastard in the chair with the easy job

I'm only guessing but would imagine in such an operation the barge would have been anchored to the river bed , perhaps one of the anchors failed.

a reply to: ShadowLink

Also, to be clear, a Swamper is the poor guy on the end of the line running around hooking up all the rigging and doing all the hard work, not the lucky bastard in the chair with the easy job

Without swampers, the operator may as well stay at home, there would be no lifts without the swampers.

Video has been removed by poster?

What's with the elevator music playing in the background? Too funny...

Check out this video, it got put online today , this is footage taken from a security camera.




Like a knife going through butter , damm .... that is one Lucky guy.

a reply to: TheGreazel

An angel on his shoulder, just like everyone else were present at the moment it happened.

A safer plan would have been one pontoon with both cranes and the bridge section on it, and a third crane where the section must to be placed.

But the way they had planned, it should not have led to such a disaster.
The key is to lift and move the load very gradually so that the ballast pumps have enough time to compensate for the weight transfer by displacing water.

The old bridge section which was removed in 2011 had a weight of about 100 ton, but without the weight below the road section, so my estimate is that this new bridge section has a weight of about 150 ton.