October 7, 2009

PATRICK MCCONNELL

A crane working on the Bow Tower failed, dropped its load and smashed a window, the fourth instance of debris falling from a Calgary construction site in recent months.

Health and safety

Debris keeps falling from Calgary construction sites

RICHARD GILBERT

staff writer

A small crane dangled off the side of the Bow tower in Calgary and dropped its load Sept. 26 just as an investigation into glass falling from another highrise construction site wrapped up.

The crane failure marked the fourth incident of falling debris in the city in the last couple of months.

Investigators didn’t find fault after glass fell from a construction site last month at the Palliser South tower on 10th Avenue SE.

“The investigation reveals that proper safe work practices were in place in relation to the glass that fell from the 20th floor of the construction site,” said Kevin Griffiths, chief building official for the city.

“The glass material in question may have been fractured along its edges. This, combined with inconsistent pressures and temperature fluctuations led to further propagation of the crack in the glass that invoked the failure.”

A large mirrored pane fell on Aug 29.

The shattered pane caused huge shards of glass to plunge to the sidewalk and street below. No one was injured.

The fourth incident occurred at The Bow complex, which will be the new headquarters for EnCana Corp.

“It (the crane) was lifting a load when the hoist failed and the load fell,” said Chris Chodan, spokesman for Alberta Occupational Health and Safety.

“The bouncing of the crane may have caused it to go over the edge.”

The incident happened on the morning of Sept 26 and is still under investigation. Chodan said that when the crane failed, it was lifting a window panel, which fell 20 feet to the ground.

“They had something attached to the crane as a back up,” he said.

A tether stopped the crane from plunging three stories to the ground.

However, the crane smashed a window as it dangled over the side.

Officials from Alberta Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) carried out an investigation at the site on the same day.

“The crane was removed from the site and it must be inspected and certified,” said Chodan.

He said this particular incident didn’t come to the attention of the local media until Sept 29 because they were busy covering a different incident at another construction site.

A piece of scaffolding fell from the 19th storey of the Penn West Tower on 9th Avenue and crashed onto a parkade ramp on Sept 26.

No one was injured by the debris which fell at the project, being built by Centron Construction Group.

Officers from OHS were soon at the site to determine the cause of the incident.

“A stop work order was written on top of an order by the City of Calgary,” said Chodan.

“They (Centron) were asked to remove the decking from the scaffold because the decking could fall. We want engineers to oversee the proper installation of the scaffolding.”

In May, 27-year-old Lance Orr was killed when a load of concrete forms fell on him at the same construction site.

Orr, a rigger, was assisting the crane operator with the movement of a number of heavy forms on the 21st floor of the building.

The forms shifted in the sling which caused them to slip out fall onto the worker. The forms weigh about 1,800 lbs.

Orr, who was employed by subcontractor Pagnotta Industries, was pronounced dead at the scene.

In yet another incident, the City of Calgary announced late last month that charges had been laid after the death of toddler Michelle Krsek,. who was killed at the Le Germain highrise project when a bundle of sheet metal blew off the 22nd floor.

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