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Crane Inquiry Focuses On Turntable

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The New York Times

Published: June 1, 2008

NEW YORK - The Manhattan district attorney's office has opened a criminal investigation into a fatal crane accident, focusing on whether a part of the crane had been seriously damaged last year and then inappropriately put back into service, an official involved in the investigation said Saturday.

The piece in question is a rotating plate, or turntable, that connects the operator's cab and the boom to the crane tower. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said investigators thought the turntable involved in Friday's accident was cracked during construction last year.

In both jobs, the cranes were owned by the New York Crane and Equipment Corp.

Investigators have not determined what caused the collapse Friday, which stoked fears about the potential hazards of the city's building boom. The crane collapsed 2 1/2 months after another one toppled into a town house and killed seven people.

The giant crane collapsed while helping to build a 32-story condominium, killing two construction workers and injuring a third.

Workers on Saturday scaled more than a dozen stories up the damaged remnants of the crane tower. Two other cranes were brought in to help dismantle it. Forensic engineers will analyze crane parts to determine what went wrong, and the city Department of Buildings is researching the crane's history and reviewing its maintenance records, spokeswoman Kate Lindquist said.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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