After at least 11 confirmed incidents involving defective light poles, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on July 6 issued a repair notice covering more than 2,500 of the standards already placed in stadiums around the U.S. The poles, which typically weigh one to four tons and soar up to 135 ft above the ground, were manufactured by a now-defunct Texas firm, Fort Worth-based Whitco Co. LP. Photo Courtesy Of Hays ISD Inspections for defects have been ordered for more than 2,500 poles manufactured by the now defunct Whitco. There were no known injuries, but several close calls were reported.
Crane experts are watching William Rapetti’s trial closely. Many believe that regardless of the outcome, more stringent safety and certification codes for crane operations are on the way. Related Links: Engineer Rejects N.Y. State’s ‘Sling Theory’ in Rigger Trial “A catastrophic loss like this is always a shot heard around the world,” says Edward Shapiro, president of Heavy Equipment Services Co., Niantic, Conn., referring to the industry’s response to the 200-ft tower-crane collapse on March 15, 2008. “It’s too bad it takes a catastrophic loss to focus in on [safety] issues.” After a crane plummeted 16 stories in San Francisco’s
Attorneys on July 12 began presenting their case in defense of William Rapetti, the Long Island, N.Y., crane rigger on trial for manslaughter. Photo By AP/WIDEWORLD Attorneys for rigger William Rapetti (center) began calling witnesses on July 12. Related Links: ‘A Shot Heard Around the World’ Prosecutors allege that Rapetti, who is accused of causing the midtown Manhattan accident that killed six construction workers and one civilian on March 15, 2008, used just four nylon slings—rather than eight, as the manufacturer suggested—to hold the crane’s six-ton collar to its mast during a “jumping,” or extending, operation on the site of
A new study published in a National Safety Council journal says that widely differing perceptions of safety helped conceal that an aggressive schedule, congested jobsite and lax safety enforcement may have created conditions that led to eight construction worker deaths at two big Las Vegas projects, City-Center and Cosmopolitan, between 2007 and 2008. Photo Courtesy Of CityCenter Land LLC The contractors say MGM Resorts owes $492 million for CityCenter. Perini Building Co., a unit of Sylmar, Calif.-based Tutor Perini Corp., is the general contractor for both projects. The study appeared in the most recent issue of the Journal of Safety
In response to a February blast that killed six workers at a Connecticut powerplant under construction, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board voted late last month to recommend a ban on use of natural gas to clean pipes. It also called for an end to venting or purging gas indoors, which triggered a fatal factory explosion in 2009 in North Carolina. Board experts probed both accidents on-site. The board also urged the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to develop rules to ban both practices and for the National Fire Protection Association to take similar action through code revisions. The recommendations
The Louisiana State Police say a driver hauling a 134-ft-long 78-in.-deep, pre-stressed bulb-T girder was going too fast and his load was not properly secured when it fell off a truck in New Orleans, La., on June 22. There were no injuries. The driver was fined $100. Still Frames From Louisiana State Police Video Related Links: VIDEO: Girder Transport Accident “The load came undone, so it was not secured properly,” says State Police spokesman Lt. Doug Cain. “Whether that is attributed totally to speed or tie downs, I don’t think we’ll ever know.” That might have been the end of
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued an immediate recall of more than 2,500 stadium light poles, after confirming reports that 11 of the steel poles fell over. Most of of those incidents occurred in Texas, CPSC says. Related Links: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Release The commission says that the poles range from about 70 to 135 feet tall, weigh one to four tons and are located near school stadiums and gyms. CPSC says the manufacturer was Whitco Co. LLP, Fort Worth, which the commission says is out of business. It says that the recall does not affect
The manslaughter trial began on June 22 for a New York City crane rigger accused of causing a 2008 crane collapse in midtown Manhattan that killed seven, including the entire rigging crew and a civilian. The Manhattan district attorney has maintained that William Rapetti and his company, Rapetti Rigging Ser-vices, Massapequa Park, N.Y., are responsible for the March 15, 2008, collapse. But the defense team continually has pushed to prove other causes, claiming Rapetti did not do “anything wrong” in preparing the 200-ft tower crane to be “jumped,” or extended, from the 18th floor of a rising condo on East
A Seattle K-8 public school built under state sustainability protocols had to be shut down after staff and students complained of annoying odors. When toxicology testing showed that high pH and moisture content in the concrete flooring had reacted with carpet adhesive and backing to produce methyl hexanol, a volatile organic compound, the school district had no choice but to carry out expensive repairs. Photo: Seattle Public Schools Carpet adhesive and moisture reacted. Opened in September 2009, the $37-million school struggled with complaints about the smell until closing in April 2010. The toxicology investigation confirmed the extent of the problem.
The attorney for the crane rigger accused of causing the deadly 2008 crane collapse in Manhattan said that “incompetence at the highest levels of city government” caused the accident, which killed seven people, rather than the “recklessness” prosecutors alleged against his client, William Rapetti. Photo: AP/Louis Lanzano Rapetti on the day of his indictment in January, 2009. Photo: Michael Goodman for ENR The defense has emphasized that Rapetti operated equipment at Ground Zero. Related Links: Rigger Declines Jury Trial Crane-Failure Case Heading to Court Rapetti was the master rigger of a 200-ft-high tower crane at the high-rise apartment construction site
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