Byron Gale
March 4th, 2007, 04:08 PM
There was a mishap, about a week ago, during the construction of a truck by-pass at the I-580/I-205 junction near my town. Two cranes were hoisting a re-bar cage, the load shifted, and down they came.
FIRST (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1z0Nj7j9QxxdGxuSmirGZGQSeYzWHw1) - A wide view of the site. Note the orange boom.
SECOND (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1eTGlNwnylS93MqNWnhFzqTGf4w) - A closer view. See how the orange structure crumpled as it fell across the smaller, white crane. Also note how close the thing came to landing in the I-205 East-bound traffic lanes.
THIRD (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1Osr5CDV7yEcpfdKYFYmiHhVUe6DG1) - A close view including some workers, for scale. You can more clearly see the re-bar cage, now twisted and draped over the white crane.
FOURTH (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1mT4tcOQkv6oDCzmwIG49OoNE2G68) - The widest view. The blue/white truck in the background is south-bound for Los Angeles on I-580. The structures and white walls just above that truck are the Altamont Raceway -- site of the infamous 1969 Rolling Stones (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont_Free_Concert) concert featuring the Hell's Angels.
FIFTH (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1Vv5cVSRxYGpcDYZgugZM5E53IpJ8h1) - Me. Trying to take a quick shot while we passed the site, before we had pulled off the shoulder of the highway. Guess where the auto-focus locked on... :p
I was unable to get pictures of the other crane, because it is down-slope behind these, and it would have been even less safe to pull over before this point. The cab of that one got inverted, and they had to cut it open to let the operator out. He was the only injury, and just had scrapes and bumps.
FIRST (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1z0Nj7j9QxxdGxuSmirGZGQSeYzWHw1) - A wide view of the site. Note the orange boom.
SECOND (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1eTGlNwnylS93MqNWnhFzqTGf4w) - A closer view. See how the orange structure crumpled as it fell across the smaller, white crane. Also note how close the thing came to landing in the I-205 East-bound traffic lanes.
THIRD (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1Osr5CDV7yEcpfdKYFYmiHhVUe6DG1) - A close view including some workers, for scale. You can more clearly see the re-bar cage, now twisted and draped over the white crane.
FOURTH (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1mT4tcOQkv6oDCzmwIG49OoNE2G68) - The widest view. The blue/white truck in the background is south-bound for Los Angeles on I-580. The structures and white walls just above that truck are the Altamont Raceway -- site of the infamous 1969 Rolling Stones (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont_Free_Concert) concert featuring the Hell's Angels.
FIFTH (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1Vv5cVSRxYGpcDYZgugZM5E53IpJ8h1) - Me. Trying to take a quick shot while we passed the site, before we had pulled off the shoulder of the highway. Guess where the auto-focus locked on... :p
I was unable to get pictures of the other crane, because it is down-slope behind these, and it would have been even less safe to pull over before this point. The cab of that one got inverted, and they had to cut it open to let the operator out. He was the only injury, and just had scrapes and bumps.