Netherlands crane collapse: 20 hurt in Alphen aan den Rijn

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: BBC

Two cranes employed to restore a bridge in the central Dutch town of Alphen aan den Rijn have collapsed on buildings, injuring at least 20 people, media say.

Amateur video showed one crane trying to hoist a section of the Juliana Bridge and collapsing under the weight, bringing the second crane down with it.

Dutch media said rescue workers were in contact with at least one person trapped in the rubble.
...
One of the two cranes, linked together on a pontoon, was lifting a vast steel ramp that forms the central bridge span when it toppled, taking the other crane with it a few seconds later.


Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33762806

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Video on the BBC page. I don't understand why cranes aren't operated with proper safety margins.

[FLPanhandle]

1. There are dozens of crane accidents captured on YouTube

Amazing to see how many there are. You'd think someone would have figured out how to do it properly by now.

[Blue_Tires]

8. I remember that ugly one with the Milwaukee Brewers stadium...

[SwissTony]

2. Breaking news here in Holland.

"De brandweer zou contact hebben met de man die onder het puin vastzit. In een ander pand zou nog een hond vastzitten.'

Translation "The Fire Brigade has contact with one man who is trapped in the rubble. In another house, a dog appears to be trapped".

http://www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/zeker-20-gewonden-bij-val-kranen-en-brug-op-huizen-alphen-aan-den-rijn~a4112914/

It's a Dutch newspaper.

[Ilios Meows]

7. Thanks for the link. It's all over the news here in Belgium too.

It's totally a space issue and you see some pretty precarious construction sites which would never pass safety regulations in the US.

[sybylla]

3. From a fecking barge? WTF!!!!!!!

What brilliant engineer thought that was a great fucking idea? What the hell is wrong with building a bridge in place vs. installing bridge sections already built?

Jesus.

[SwissTony]

4. There isn't much room in Holland.

It's a very densely populated country. Sometimes you can't get large pieces of machinery into places you's want to have them. Some of the streets are quite narrow. Many street widths wre determined during horse and cart days.

[sybylla]

11. I am completely aware of that and quite empathetic.

I cherish history and adore the older parts of European cities.

But a barge - we've just seen how well that works. And truthfully, I didn't need to see it to know it was going to be a disaster with dozens of people injured, trapped and killed. This is an experiment I successfully completed in my bathtub at the age of 3.

Building the bridge in place would have been the answer, requiring smaller cranes. Or closing the canal and putting down in a solid platform for the cranes to operate from. The Netherlands is full of canals and bridges. I cannot imagine this is the only bridge or the only canal in town that they needed to have the bridge in place and working in as short a time as possible.

[SwissTony]

13. I absolutely agree.

We don't live close to a canal or a bridge, but if they were coming to work on a bridge using a large crane on a barge and we were in "range", I'd worry too. I would much rather put up with "inconvenience" of having to drive/ride/walk a bit further than to worry about a crane coming down.

But people always have to work to a budget, so they tend to compromise. And when it goes wrong, people get hurt or killed.

[PoliticAverse]

6. That wasn't even the silliest Dutch crane idea gone bad...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30462825

[sybylla]

12. Ha! Talk about operator error. n/t

[bikebloke]

5. I've been through there on my bike.

Friends live in a nearby town.

[SwissTony]

9. According to an expert, this was an amateurish (??) effort

According to an expert in the field of heavy transport was the construction company was working at the Juliana Bridge in Alphen aan den Rijn 'amateurish' to work. "Cranes are made to stand on land on solid ground. They stood on a pontoon, which is already a risk."

"It's amateurish, as I am very cautious," said Richard Krabbendam, a specialist in the field of heavy transport. "Two cranes on a pontoon: it is possible, but you should know what you're doing."

SEE ALSO: New images drama Alphen aan den Rijn

Krabbendam has analyzed the images prior to the accident. "It happens too quickly," he notes. "What went wrong is that the taps were running too fast, causing the pontoon was tilting. At that time they had to stop immediately. But because they did not and turned it, the cranes fell over."

The specialist says he never has an accident of such magnitude seen. "It's sad what happened. I hope there are no deaths.

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i've Google translated it rather than done it myself, but I'm happy with Google.

The original Dutch text...

http://www.msn.com/nl-nl/nieuws/nationaal/specialist-amateuristisch-de-kranen-draaiden-te-snel/ar-BBlmggz?ocid=mailsignoutmd

[PoliticAverse]

10. Several additional videos...

http://nos.nl/artikel/2050224-kraanongeluk-alphen-een-reconstructie-in-beeld.html

[Brother Buzz]

15. Jeez Louise, those loaded booms were swung way, way to fast

I bet the engineers had the numbers right, visualizing slow and easy; momentum was never part of the equation

[Sunlei]

14. what an awful accident. I'm scared to be under cranes while they're operating.