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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1425269
SOURCES: PHYS.ORG, WIKIPEDIA, IEEE SPECTRUM particularly close. Similar to the Coupal family operation, Wolfram Stemmer, who founded the crane company in Salmon Arm in 1991, had two of his sons working for him. Both were among the five men who died in the accident. Investigations into the Kelowna col- lapse were ongoing at the time of writing, but there has been a large amount of specu- lation as to what might have gone wrong. Indeed, within 24 hours, there was a belligerently critical YouTube video that actually included Instagram-sourced foot- age of the crane's operation on the day of the accident. (Search "Kelowna crane col- lapse explained.") What's known for sure is that the acci- dent occurred not during normal crane operations but in the preliminary stage of dismantling. Tower cranes have a functional free-standing limit of about 80 metres (265 feet). Beyond that height, they must be supported within a building or strapped to its exterior, as the Kelowna crane was. Then the cranes themselves can "climb." They have a hydraulically activated frame that encircles the mast, pushing up far enough to make room for additional sections which are hoisted up by the crane itself, tucked into the gap and bolted into place—or removed and hoisted back down. The Kelowna crane had already completed its work on the building and was climbing down—the crew removing sec- tions one by one—when the whole boom toppled over and crashed to the ground. This, again, is the likeliest period for an accident—when the crane is climbing—or when it's being set up or taken down, with a second, mobile crane lifting or lowering huge boom sections that have to be posi- tioned perfectly and bolted into place. Surprisingly, then, these higher-risk erection and dismantling processes are also the least regulated parts of B.C. crane operations. Frank Carr, who has been a business rep for the International Union of Operating Engineers ( IUOE) since the year 2000, says the crane industry had a long history of being self-regulated. But after a flurry of accidents, the provincial govern- ment set up BC Crane Safety in 2005 as NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021 BCBUSINESS 41 Today, the most powerful mobile crane is the Liebherr LTM 11200-9.1, which has a load capacity of 1,200 tonnes and a maximum lift height of 188 metres The tallest tower crane is the Krøll K10000, which stands 143 metres high and can lift 240 tonnes a certification and licensing authority— funded with industry dollars collected through WorkSafeBC. Now every crane operator in the province must be certified before they climb into a high-flying cab. But there is no similar standard for those assembly crew members who spend their days in the wind and the rain trying not to find out why the gap between the jib (the front part of the horizontal boom) and the mast is called the "bite." Carr says the IUOE has been lobbying for new regu- lation for years, but he acknowledges that it's complicated. The industry used to be dominated by a handful of large crane rental operations, like Coupal. But in recent years, more of the big construction com- panies have been buying their own cranes and running their own crews. And the equipment and processes can vary widely from one crane to another. BC Crane Safety executive director Clin- ton Connell also stresses the complexity of the task. The assembly and dismantling work is "highly specialized—it's 100-percent a skilled trade," Connell says, adding that it often involves engineering technicians or full-blown engineers with a background in mechanical or electrical. But, Connell says, "The bulk of the training happens on the job or through the manufacturers." There's no course to be had at the local community college, so it's difficult for a regulatory agency to establish and enforce rules that might apply fairly across the whole industry. But Carr and Connell both say they expect the Kelowna crash may result in some positive regulatory adjust- ment. "Whenever there is an incident of that magnitude, there is likely to be some change," Connell says. The other regulatory area that is ripe for revision is on the ground rather than in the air. Aside from being a high-risk activ- ity, tower crane assembly and dismantling can also be highly disruptive. You need a huge mobile crane, capable of lifting jib sections that can be as long as the mast is tall. And you need a staging area where trucks can pull in and unload the crane sections and the crew can organize all the parts. That means shutting down busy streets, which municipal governments are inclined to resist, allowing only the small- est amount of space for the shortest period of time. As a result, Carr says, crews wind up cramped and hurried, raising the stress The industry used to be dominated by a handful of large crane rental operations. But in recent years, more of the big construction companies have been buying their own cranes and running their own crews