THE BIG BLUE CRANE ACCIDENT
Abstract
The Big Blue crane crush is one of the devastating crane accidents in the history of crane crushes. The crush happened at the Milwaukee during the construction of a baseball stadium that was to be used for the 2000 game season. The crush cut short the lives of three ironworkers. It also contributed to damages that cost the company 100 million US dollars. The widows of the deceased took a lawsuit in the court, which saw them being compensated heavily for the loss of their husbands. The company in charge of constriction-retracted roofs-Mitsubishi Industries was accused of neglect and was ordered to compensate the widows. The cause of the accident was due to neglect by the companies’ supervisors, which saw the lives of these three workers end. The case also helped the people in construction company learn lessons such as workers safety, teamwork and need to ensure scrutiny of the machines before granting permission for their use.
The Big Blue Crane Accident
Collapse of the Big Blue crane at the Milwaukee, Wisconsin baseball team that occurred on 14 July 1999 is one of the fatal crane accidents that had ever happened (Edward, 2001). The accidents claimed lives of the workers and caused huge damage that ran into millions of dollars. Three workers who died during the accidents include William DeGrave, Jeffrey Winscher and Jerome Starr (Edward, 2001). These three were iron workers and during the accident they were guiding a section of a roof into correct place while being suspended on a different crane. The collapsing Big Blue crane knocked their basket crane to the ground claiming their lives. The accident caused a damage of approximately 100 US million dollars to the partially completed structure leading to a delay of completion of the stadium that lasted one year (Edward, 2001). The stadium was to serve as a home for the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team for the 2000 season. The crane dropped a 450-ton section of the ballpark retractable roof that lead to these damages and injuries.
The company that was working on the stadium was Lampson International LTD. The company had leased the crane and the crew that were constructing the stadium. The company that was involved in the construction of the retractable roof was called Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. After the accident, the widows of the causalities brought a wrongful death suit against the company that was involved in the construction of the stadium- Lampson International Ltd and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the deaths (Edward, 2001).
During construction of the stadium, the roofs were assembled outside the stadium. They were then lifted at the height of 330 feet, and lowered to the roof sections at the height of 230 feet. When accident occurred, the crane had been moved on its tank-like tracks, while its surface area was equivalent to four and one and half wings of a 747 airliner. This caused the roof section of the crane to act as a sail in the wind that exerted pressure on the bottom of the crane making it to tip the crane.
When the case was brought into the court, experts recommended that the maximum speed of the crane was supposed to be eleven miles per hour. When the plaintiffs were requested to testify, they claimed that during the accident, the wind gusts were running at thirty miles per hour. Furthermore, more testimonies indicated that ironworkers had complained and raised concern about the wind but the supervisors did not take in their concerns. As the case proceeded on, the co-defendant of Lampson International Ltd and Plaintiffs attorney argued that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was responsible for the accident and therefore liable to bear the consequences (Kenneth, 2000). The company was accused of improper monitoring of the wind gusts and for ignoring warnings that conditions were not safe on the day of the crash. However, in defending itself, Mitsubishi argued that it was the duty of the Lampson International Ltd to monitor the speed of the winds. It further claimed that Lampson International Company failed to update it on the effects of speed on the suspended loads. Mitsubishi also testified that crane collapsed due to poor assembly of the crane, wind, and unstable soil underneath the crane, which made it susceptible (Kenneth, 2000).
The trials also centered on the actions of Mitsubishi Heavy industries site supervisor Mr. Victor Grotlisch. He was accused of irresponsibleness He admitted that he failed to calculate the wind sail before ordering the lifts to be used. He was further accused of often colliding with Lampson international ltd crew that was assigned to operate the Big Blue crane leading to replacement of one of Lampson crewmember (Kenneth, 2000). He was accused of being sloppy, authoritarian and therefore did not mind the safety procedures. Poor weather had caused the stoppage of construction work one week before the accident and therefore, the supervisor was in a hurry to recover the lost hours. Plaintiff also accused Grotlisch for unplugging weather computer at the construction site in an effort to conceal any evidence on wind speed during the time of accident.
The case came to its conclusion on December 1, 2000 when the jury returned his verdict. Mitsubishi Company was found guilty of neglect at the time of the accident. Its level for neglect was 97 percent. The reason was its failure to properly monitor the speed of the wind when the crane attempted to lift the roof. On the other hand, Lampson International was found 3 percent neglect due to the argument by Mitsubishi that the direction of operating the crane was not clear. The jury responses were negative concerning whether employees of the Lampson International Ltd were neglect during the accident. The verdict did not name any other employee of Mitsubishi Company and Grotlisch.
Mistakes were also made during the erection of the crane. The supervisor did not calculate the wind sail at that particular time (TheMilWaukeechannel.com 2000). Furthermore, the underground soil that supported the crane was unstable leading to the tip of the crane to topple hitting the basket lift leading to a crash.
The case concluded, after the jurors awarded 1.4 million US dollars to the three widows for suffering and pain they underwent when their husbands passed away. Furthermore, 350 US dollars was also awarded to them to console them for losing their companions (Peter, 1999). Mitsubishi Company was also directed to pay the three women amount of 94 US million dollars.
As the case progressed, the representatives of the Milwaukee county district attorney office continued to follow on the case to find whether either parties was responsible for the collapse of the Big Blue. There own investigation found out that the accident was caused by a structural failure. However, the jury verdict was opposed to this, and therefore, opening an avenue for filling of criminal charges on either parties. No criminal charge was filed as of October 2001 (Peter, 1999).
This accident provided many lessons to constructions companies. Construction companies learned various lessons that related to the operation and functioning of the cranes. One lesson that was learned is the required speed of wind gusts when operating the cranes. The recommended speed of the wind is eleven miles per hour and therefore all supervisors need to adhere to this. Second is that, there is need for supervisors to consult and reach consensus when working together in a site. Third, is that safety of the workers on construction site is important and should be given priority. The cost that the company incurred in compensation was huge. These costs could not have been incurred had the company put in place adequate measures to ensure safety of the workers. Fourth lesson is that, when construction work is going on, there is need for the supervisor to asses the depth of the soil to avoid accidents when the weight of the crane overweighs the ground surface.
References
Edward, F. (2001). Reflections on the Accident at Miller Park and the Prosecution of Work- Related Fatalities in Wisconsin, Marquette University Law School: Faculty Publications.
Kenneth, R. L. (2000). Firms Point Fingers at Each Other, Milwaukee J. Sentinel, 19, Oct. 2000,
Peter, S. (1999). Rush to complete new stadium blamed for deaths of three US construction workers. Retrieved from: http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/jul1999/milw-j23.shtml
The MilWaukeechannel.com (2000). Expert: Wind, Poor Choices Caused Crash, Retrieved from: http://www.themilwaukeechannel.comlshlnews/wisconsinlstorieslnews-
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