Big Blue Crane

[themightyturkeykicke]

i also heard through that the commissioner was riding the GC to get that project done..

[zorrogash]

Big blue was the second biggest crane in op in north america.

[Puppehland]

I went to wisconson to visit my grndparents. i was only 6 when this happened but my grandma asked me if i wanted to go and see the building being built. So we went there and then i watched from the fence and my grandma went back to her house (she lived a block away) still she shouldnt have left me alone because 2 minutes after she left the crane fell but i didnt see it. i heard a terrible noise then SMASH! it was all over the place. i ended up running in the house screaming "THE CRANE FELL!!"

[robbycforprez2006]

the original crane operator refused to make the due to high winds. The site forman, in an effort to save money and keep on schedule, got a young, inexperienced operator to make the lift. The first operator lost his job for trying to make the right call. Three workers including a father and son who were in the personell basket lost their lives.

[DJSonik4]

I am an Operator in Boston Ma, and we are rushed day in and day out to get the job done and we violate Osha rules and regulations everyday to save the all mighty dollar!! This was a real shame when this happened, They actually showed this video at our Osha certification class, The Super on that job is 100% to blame on that tragedy.. Its all go ahead until someone gets hurt or killed..... A crane of that size should of never even started up with winds that high! God bless those who died.

[juneshopper]

A friend who's just started in construction told me about this. He said the job super is now in jail, because it was his decision to have the men moving this with winds being too high. It's too bad that his error cost the lives of 3 workers.

[sr230399]

i think the original operator walked out refusing to work in non-safe conditions, then grabbed his camera and filmed it presuming that s*** would happen if someone go ahead with that job as it happened.

[camaro614]

The original crane operator walked off because he believed it wasn't safe due to the high winds.

[535353trs535353]

the widows and lampsons ind. ltd. filed a lawsuit against mitsubishi who made the crane. in the case report you can read how someone made errors with the "wind sail" calculations...the verdict of the case was 99 million dollars in the favor of the plaintiffs. in the case mitsubishi was found 97 percent negligent for the accident, lampson ind. ltd. was found 3 percent negligent.

[leifespen]

this was NOT mechanical failure! there was NOTHING wrong with the crane itself! the "safety foreman" didn't do his job and ordered the crane be used in unsafe conditions!

RIP diver. my dad misses you.

[jimkorg]

I was working at a job, when a smaller crane was lifting I-beams,and one of the cables broke>Then within a few seconds the beam came crashing down . Luckily there was know one below.

[SkateborderX12]

The 3 guys in the basket are the one who lost there lifes.Why did this have to happen?WHY?!?!

[09adge13]

thats what happen when man thinks they can outdo nature. this accident. samething that happen 99yrs ago when the titanic sank what happened? thought iceberg warnings were nothing and resulted in 1500 deaths. next time when the org. crane op says dont lift during windy days, dont lift. judging from some of these comments the constructor was getting a huge bonus finishing it early. i guess money is the root of all evil cause 3 or 4 workers involuntary was killed because someone wanted more money

[dub2]

precisely 0:59 the crane hits the 3 men in the welder/steelworker basket. The smaller crane that hoists them. God Bless Those Men.

[hsvweatherman]

You can hear the sound of the huge bolts that hold the crane base to the motorized cart snapping..... 0:42

[appleAddict240872]

0:49 look at the top of the vid... the crate is in the distance. very sad.

[sociopathicsolja]

we have to watch this video every time u get resertified in osha, scary man one day your just working and thats the end...crazy

[carsieplg]

@sociopathicsolja this video sends a chill down my spine but i still love my job up would never put me off i love being a banksman i have faith in the operator i work with if its your day to go just hope its quick thats the way i see it

[phildeez1984]

@carsieplg having faith in an operator is fine...having faith in a man made machine is dangerous.

[carsieplg]

@phildeez1984 we check the crane once a month i go up and check bolts and ropes chains are given a quick check every morning we always have the wind speed readout aswell

[phildeez1984]

yeah I can appreciate that but you know as well as I do, that anything man-made, inspected or not is prone to a failure. it only takes one mistake to miss a fatige crack or loose bolt. or what ever. I work on towboats and I have all the faith in my captin, pilots and crew, but that doesnt mean that shit wont go sour. to many factors when moving weight like that but anyways do your best and be glad you have a good operator!

[ll53tpu]

if this crane fell the other side , we wouldn't be seeing this video .

[Tampaslice]

On the far left you can see the crane carrying the 3 soon to be deceased iron workers...Jeff Wischer, William DeGrave, and Jerome Starr. They had a birdseye view of the crane coming towards them. The top of Big Blue hits their crane sending the 3 men plummeting 200 feet to their deaths. RIP

[haloreach408]

dude this is scary shit it sad

[jchambers2586]

According to them time is more important than safety.

[dragkill541]

HOLY SHIT! 0.O

[Lengas32]

HOLY SMOKES!

[TheNWSCOTT]

My heart goes out to all who lost someone during this accident this is trajic!! and should never have happened!

[jdubz5501]

God Bless everyone who has lost a loved one during this tragic accident. R.I.P. Uncle Jeff we ALL MISS YOU. I can't believe it will be 11 years next month. LOVE MEG

[fernando93540]

esse foi legal kkkkkkk

[lovisbruce]

My uncle would have died there if the foreman didnt tell him to go get a drink with the rest of the men. And anybody that blames the crane operators can suck a dick the only do what they're told to do people got to eat some how. My uncle woke me up the next mornig so i could watch his friends die. I was around 7

[bambomb951]

i remember this day .... well you would say how does a 4 year old remember this day 4 good men where lost ... 1 counting my grandfather

[kelseyhil]

KING PIN WAS 34 INCHES IN DIAMETER

[ramv36]

@kelseyhil You are correct. Ponder for a moment the amount of sheer force required to snap a 34 inch thick hardened structural steel bolt....and people consider air 'insubstantial'.

Tell a tornado it's insubstantial. 

[bosun3c]

@ramv36" The wind does not repect a fool" Klingon proverb

[lexmarks567]

the squealing sound is the sound of the cable breaks trying to slow the load down

[tinghaling]

My heart goes out to the family and friends of the construction workers that died

[thresher4]

Yeah that pop was the kingpin.

12 inches diameter

[gcae04]

the operators were blamed for the tragedy but anyone who works construction knows that calls are made to get it done...hurry hurry hurry save a buck and time and then shit like this happens ... the winds were supposed to be under 10mph lifting a load that high and heavy

[TheCannonator]

Im a philadelphia Union Carpenter my fathers friend was the safety guy on that job. The original Crane operators said "your fucking nuts" got fired. Then they brought in 2 other crane operators and the GC told the new operators that the 2 other guys over reacted so they even brought in OSHA to watch it, OSHA was the people who filmed this.

[chad5181]

@gcae04 Actually the operator wasnt blamed. He walked off the job in protest. The superintendent was at fault because he directed the load to be lifted in winds over 15mph, which was the limit established by the critical lift plan

[77IRONWORKER77]

@chad5181 The operators were found 90% at fault for this in court fyi

[lutheranshadowpriest]

The operators "blame" was removed! It wasn't their fault (obviously). The morons that made "procedure" set the windsock next to the crane.

[Donryu1983]

@gcae04 You always have a choice.

[3r1c151]

@gcae04 yeah, i bet they saved a few bucks there.

[gcae04]

i just took an OSHA/MOST rigging class on this...they said it was too much wind flying the load and the boom took to much stress ... the bolts poped on the center support under the base of the crane

[borregio1986]

i work with cranes and i can tell you the unpredictability is always scary- even when the necessary precautions are taken. Just this past year, our company tipped a crane over and also dropped a pick. Luckily nobody was injured. (Neither was on the project i was in). I heard that the cause of "BIG BLUE" going down was a metal piece worth about $38 that malfunctioned

[ripsandmass]

That's what I heard... a king pin fractured and led to a chain reaction of component overload... What a tragedy!

[ramv36]

@borregio1986 if you consider structural failure due to operating outside the crane's rated performance envelope as a malfunction...

[skillzs7463]

so wait did they finish the building later?

[lJohnnyTheFoxl]

So whose bright idea was it to let a woman operate the crane???

[skillzs7463]

F you!

[skillzs7463]

ahahaha stupid crane XD (R.I.P people)

[skillzs7463]

wow so many metal going down and killing everything

[scottgammons]

the bad part about it is the guys video taping this tragedy are osha compliance officers. what a shame!

[skillzs7463]

lol this is so funny they working, and hearing some kinda sound thats like wtf? what tha hell is going on??? then you can her some guy saying watch it! watch it! and the stupid crane goes down! lol +5 dude

[F3RSCF1908]

Always safety first........ shame on the safetyman who do give his permission to lift in windingconditions like these.

[thomassirrell]

yes 3 dead. 1 steelfixer in the roof and 2 in the manbasket on the second crain RIP lads

[Samec136]

you can see that second crane in the back fell down too.... God....

Sry about my english

[judsonkr]

The original Big Blue crew refused (rightly) to do the lift because of wind considerations. The builder got another crew to come in and do it and this was the result. People get killed and others go to jail for this kinda thing all the time.

[Samec136]

3 dead?

[TheRealPuLze]

Its Amazing the only 3people Died, The Weight of all of that,

[H0U5T0N3TX]

nah i dont feel like it....

[H0U5T0N3TX]

actually da other vid duznt say da exact same thing my title sayz da other vid sayz "big blue crane collapses cuts building and train in half"

[H0U5T0N3TX]

who givez a damm bout it'z nickname.....whole point of diz vid iz 2 show a crane breaking apart....a better title wud be "Big Blue Crane Collapses"

[H0U5T0N3TX]

i dont think diz iz an apropriate title 4 diz vid (Big Blue Crane)

[digdug1226]

The loss of life was absolutely tragic and unnecessary, but you must realize that there was NOTHING that OSHA could do to stop it. This is exactly why they video taped it. To reenforce their stand that the lift should have never taken place.

[digdug1226]

The crane op (1st) reported overstressing of the crane the day before and refused to make the lift. the Superintendent had a bonus coming to him for finishing early....he found anothe crane op to make the lift....1st crane op called OSHA. They CAN NOT make you stop a lift.

[digdug1226]

OSHA has no power to STOP the lift. They can only reccomend safe practices. SHAME on the Superintendent of this job who isisted the lift be made to save his BONUS.

[jlyn1980]

I can't believe this was 10 years ago.

[stoopkid80]

Well, you aren't smart enough to tell that. I think you should be able to tell. If you couldn't by the clues, you're really dumb.

[stoopkid80]

I said before it crashed

[stoopkid80]

They were just filming it. The people who recorded it didn't know it would fall

[specwar64]

Been in (union) construction for many years now and here's what gets me about this. Why didn't any of the ironworker or engineer foremen say anything to the OSHA guys who were right there filming and if they did why did the OSHA inspectors let the pick be attempted in the first place? They should have been the FIRST ones to say uh uh,no way. You as a worker have the right to refuse to do anything that you do not feel is safe. Think maybe someones palm got greased? Sure seems possible to me. Sad

[TomaCukor]

copy

52°1'44.67"N, 4°17'20.73"E

in google maps u can see a crane crash

[BlackPantherUWM]

I was 12 years old when this happened, and my mom and I were over on Wisconsin Avenue at my godparents' house. We heard the crash - people in Cudahy heard it. It was a bad, bad day.

There's a wall about 100 feet away from the home plate gate that carries the name of every person who worked on Miller Park. That wall curves around a statue of the three men who lost their lives.

I've never told anyone this, but before every game I attend at Miller Park, I walk to the statue and say a prayer.

[tartars72]

i work constuction and they put way to much pressure on people to get the job done and fire people for being safe. this still happens.

[OILERGEORGE]

I'll punch a motherfucker in the FACE for stressing out MY crane operator. We might get thrown off the job, and we might just refuse it and leave. But once our engineers review the incident, we'll get a pat on the back and be working an even BETTER jobsite. IT'S HAPPENED MORE THAN ONCE !!! FUCK all these sups who see Ironworker and Operator lives as EXPENDABLE. It's not a god damned military contingency, and EVEN THEN it should be refused for SAFETY !!!

[tartars72]

what they do not say is 3 operaters refused to make the lift because according to osha regulations the wind was to high to make the lift. The contrctor fired the 3 operaters an a unquilified oiler tried to make the lift.

[SpeedyPetey66]

I was at a Brewers game today at Miller Park. At one point during the game while i was looking at the roof structure I was thinking about this bad accident. So when I got home from the game I decided to see this footage. It sure is sad knowing that this beautiful building had unnecessary deaths and destruction involved with its history.

[RYDFMx]

it was the wind i watched a doco on it

[MoparHP]

They showed this clip at my OSHA class, yesterday. The main thing the instructor stressed is always refuse to perform an unsafe act, at the work place. He told us that they had to get a retired crane opperator to do this because the original guy wouldn't. He said he had a bad feeling about it. I'll always remember this. They say that most accidents that happen at the work place could have been prevented. It's terrrible that those three men lost there lives.

[gowylde2]

the person filming this works for osha, and the men that died can be seen falling from the suspended basket whe the crane goes down. you can see the basket at 1:15 where the 3 men fall out.

[tannalv]

Wooha! Look at that guy go! He must have lost 5 pounds in like 30 seconds or something! :P

I bet he was glad afterwards for getting his five minutes of fame. :P

[darcyhammer]

Probably wasn't so haplpy that he killed three coworkers.

[s0uthernwoman001]

It was an engineer design flaw that made 'big blue' come down. Not the crane driver.

[darcyhammer]

The OSHA investigation (and fines) concluded it was the contractors's failure to follow safety requirements (like ignoring wind effects on the lift). All crane lift capacities are affected by wind conditions.

[captainbillshatner]

I remember the day that happened. The first news I heard about it was the traffic reporter in an airplane above the city. The truth was they were behind schedule and that day was too windy. Every time I walk into Miller Park, I think of the blood that is part of the construction.

[bishopking]

Heed the operator in the cab at .50, they clocked him at a 9.31/100m

[Lightning93svt]

this is like the 5th time i have watched this today... i jus took my crane certification class and they showed us this video like over and over and over again... i jus could beleive it...

[lumpyeng4]

I am an Ironworker out of Local 444 in Joliet, IL. All i have to say is the crew that attempted to be hereos on this day when the suits were there are a disgrace. The original crew left for the day the due to hazardous wind conditions. The general then deceided to pull together some randoms off the job to try and get that pick done and what happens some of my fellow brother's parrish due to some fucking idiot.

[lucifer898]

i was told a labour jumped into the crane and tried to operate it after the operator left saying it was too windy

[wbfd05]

it was a double crane lift can't see the other crane it was to windy and the normal operator refused to do the lift and the the foreman told him leave and he left and another operator didn't listen and told them he could do it wrong answer the big bang sound is the lattice boom snapping and if you look closely at about 50 seconds u can see the operator running for his life, at least he was lucky unlike the poor iron workers who lost their lives to that idiot he should have stayed in the cab

[roquefortfiles]

I believe it was the wind that was a miscalculation. The piece was being pulled by wind upping the forces on everything by a logarithmic factor. It actually popped the king pin of the crane completely out of its collar. Which requires MASSIVE force. Once that is gone. Bye bye!!. That is the huge bang you hear.

[nwmod39]

we had a crane training class at work today and the lead trainer was part of the investigation crew. he told us that the manager was one of the men in the basket that fell.

[gasitman]

The project manager that ordered the operator to lift the structure was sentenced to prison for gross negligence. He told the operator, you do the lift, or your fired and I will get someone who will. They were behind schedule. I wonder how the schedule was after the accident?

[edratliff]

I had to watch this video the other day in an OSHA training session. The guy that filmed it was actually an OSHA regulatory inspector that had been called out to the job site because subcontractors were worried about how they were swinging those big sections of steel directly over top of them. When they found out OSHA was there they forced the other workers out of the building.They had been working directly under where the crane collapsed.

[edratliff]

The three men that were killed are in the bucket at the end of the crane on the left hand side. As the crane comes down the boom hits the cable holding them up, sending them to the ground. They were welders that were gonna be taken to the top of the stadium to weld that piece of steel to the rest of the structure.

[paewai70]

Very tragic event as is the loss of anyones life in a crane accident thats why i stress the fact that cranes a dynamic machines and only use 75% of what they are rated for and extreme caution must be taken when working with and around them as ACCIDENTS HURT ACCIDENTS COST AND ACCIDENTS CAN BE AVIODED as working with cranes every precaution must be taken and only competent people should operate or work with them as it is a hard industry to be excepted or be a part of may they rest in peace.

[dggfhdfghdf]

every day I pass that pile o shit,

just passed it twice 2 day!

Believe me folks, its ugly and faded now, AND it was a waste of $

the Brewers suck balls!! and always will!!

r.i.p. workers.

[thefishel]

I was just at miller park last week, they did a good job on it.

I remember hearing about this, tragic.

[asdjapfsdfasd]

man freaking horable crash!!!!

[FPVsean]

im not a bad person, i care for the people that lost thier lives, but i must say this, the foreman comes out, scratches his head, and says, WELL THERES YOUR PROBLEM!

[redwine65]

fail

[jwhojunit]

The guy recording this is a OSHA employee. Big Blue can handle 500 tons the weight of this pick was 450 tons.Big Blue isn't supposed to operate in winds at or above 20mph. They had wind gust's all morning. Ironworkers walked of the job when they heard they wanted to still do the pick. This shouldve never happened. There are plenty of people to blame here operator, contractors, workers and the OHSA employee who is hired to prvent these things. He was to worried about video taping.

[5up3rAIN002]

actually 4 men lost thier lives, and yes, the should have taken the wind speed in count

[H011ywo0d]

I was at Miller Park last night, it's one of the best parks in the country. It's a shame about the accident.

[equalcharliebrown]

Watch the flag on the middle right side at 14 seconds, it moves, compete change of winddirection and maybe spreed, and moments the later you hear the snap, then the crane go's down in the same direction.

it doen't matter where, or by whom it's built, if you push/exceed the tolorance limits, shit like this will happen.

[mush01]

I saw a programme about this not so long ago, if I recall correctly the crane crashed because while they'd calculated the tolerance limits for what they were carrying, they didn't consider the effect the wind would have - in this case it pushed it over the limit and the structure couldn't take the load anymore. Sad that people died because of such a relatively simple error :/

[bigbluecrane]

that crane is a lampson ltl 1500 lift series

[jaydabee]

watch the blog in the background at1:01 onwards its a manrider with guys in it yet again management pushing for lifts in the wind they should be charged with manslaughter

[the737yo]

The companies that were building the stadium was fined for negligence.

[nickhare21]

35 not 356 sorry haha

[nickhare21]

the lift ws over 400 tons and there were winds of 356 m.p.h the superintendant should have cancelled the lift

[repieces]

356 mph?? I don't think so....gotta be a typo.

[eriksanabria]

what was the cause for the crane to fall?

[popcorntayto]

Thats what happens when you use american crap,stick to the tried and tested german equipment!!!!!..........

[eriksanabria]

after this crane they used the Terex-Demag CC12600. This one is german!!!!!

[popcorntayto]

Thats what happens when you use american crap,stick to the tried and tested german equipment!!!!!..........

[eriksanabria]

after this crane they used the Terex-Demag CC12600. This one is german!!!!!

[equalcharliebrown]

ney good sire, while lampson is partically owned by a german company, they are made right here in the u.s.

besides, the crane didn't malfunction, acording to the offical report they decided to make the lift with winds up to 20km per hour, although that is (barely) within its stuctural limit, the compy sugest working only in 10 kph or less, because any higher and the possiblity of a wind direction change is enough to top it over, which is exactly what happenes.

[Frizzenspark]

The roof section on the hook weight 400 tons, according to wikipedia. When Big Blue came down, they were trying to lift a roof section in a 26 mph wind. The wind pushing on the boom and the roof section put enough shear force onto a pin and caused it to break, bringing the crane down. This video was actually shot by OSHA, who happened to be on site that day and filming. This is what can happen when schedule is put before safety.

[stu22aus]

Yeeeaaahhh....the engineers who design these things should have to work in em...

[LukeL007]

Watch the ground at ~:52 you can see a plume of dust where a rivet popped loose.

[Griffencph]

One lucky shot - after all - to get a thing like that on camera!

Horrible that it killed people, but at least it has improved safety elsewhere since then.

[LukeL007]

Actually someone on the freeway happened to be videotaping the stadium as this crane came down. I have been unable to find a copy of that video ever since it aired

[Griffencph]

I saw the Discovery Channel program on the crash, it's amazing how many people filmed that crane. I guess it's because it's THAT crane and not just any standard crane?

[the737yo]

Shit, I wanted to watch that episode of Blueprint For Disaster on Friday August 22nd 2008, 6am or 5pm (would'a watcched at 6 because I really wanted to see it) on Discovery Civilization! I missed it because I didn't have Discovery Civilization channel at that time!

Wanted to tape it...

[amiller0120]

that part it's lifting weighed 400 million tons. i saw it on the history channel

[transamspirit]

Sure. I am working with a Demag CC 4000 right now. It is larger than big blue. The counterweight on the CC 4000 is only 1,300,000 lbs. So what you are saying is a complete lie.

[IWLocal8]

The Demag is capable of lifting more. Big Blue is actually size-wise bigger than the Demag. They brought one in to Replace the Lampson after the crash. Shoulda used it in the beginning - a lot better, and, the rigging was easier.

[TurboStang16]

be realistic, whole aircraft carriers don,t weigh that much, probably more like 400 tons.

[TurboStang16]

be realistic, whole aircraft carriers don,t weigh that much, probably more like 400 tons.

[TurboStang16]

be realistic, whole aircraft carriers don,t weigh that much, probably more like 400 tons.

[SAMJE123456]

At a guess id say the roof weighed more like 40 tons.

[IWLocal8]

LOL - not even close.

[PhatPhagBeatz]

Or 400.

[barrell23]

you shouldn't of shut off the crane

ps:i wonder where the crane is now

[barrell23]

you should of shut off the crane.

[michiganmadman]

Amazing video

[720macHeelflip]

what the hell

[AMDKING63]

that's bad for them

[wiggario]

Did they rebuild this thing? There is the same model crane named big blue that worked at Suncor in Sarnia, Ontario a little over a year ago.

[wat3rsfloyd]

yes, this crane was operating under bad wind conditions, the sub-contractor was roushed to finish the project before certain date, he told the general contractor that was dificult to finish with those strong winds, so they hired another sub to finished it because the other sub refused to continue under those conditions, and there is the prize!

[robby844]

the police later found that the boom pin broke.

[ArmchairRevolution]

Sounds like a controlled demolition to me...

[MrQL]

hahaha, i got the joke

[saultman]

I'm an Ironwoker with local #8 and worked for this contractor too and feel terrible for the friends and families that were left behind...God Bless and R.I.P.

[xygomorphic77]

in holland you can see a crane collapse on google earth, just copy and paste this code into the fly to box: 52°1'44.67"N, 4°17'20.73"E

[yotube123454321]

that was awesome

[Rensiej]

thats just amazing!!

[MITCHELL650]

I worked for the company were the 3 workers was killed at. The foremen didnt watch the wind meter to check the wind speed and the direction. It was a big loss for everyone. The only good thing that came out of this whole thing is that they placed a statue of the workers that was killed on this day.. RIP

[JoeSomebody2]

Jesus...destruction can happen so easily. Hard to imagine the stadium I stood in is the exact same place.

[than217]

kinda went out the same way my ole dog blue went down, cept for the 3 deaths... and millions of tons of steal

[aolkid]

ouch

[jeffb918]

youre my boy blue!

[MePlusYouEquals4Ever]

big blue