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Cranes

Urban Travel: Small Cranes Are the Ones to Fear

June 2, 2008 at 2:15 PM | 0 Comments

Friday's crane collapse on New York's Upper East Side was the city's second deadly crane accident in two months. The incident comes on the heels of similar crane calamities in Miami and Annapolis, Maryland.

Today Slate's Explainer feature delves into all of this crane collapse madness asking "Why Do Cranes Fall Down?." Slate says an average of 82 people are killed in crane accidents each year, but apparently

The cranes that do fall over tend to be of the smaller, mobile variety--as opposed to gigantic, fixed-tower cranes like those involved in both New York City accidents.

That should be at least a bit comforting for urban explorers.

The accidents in New York and Miami all occurred while the cranes were being fitted with additional sections for added height. This process--known as "jumping"--seems to be the riskiest thing about the big cranes, while according to Slate, overly heavy loads and electrical accidents are the most dangerous things about the small ones. Heads up!

Related Stories:
· Why Do Cranes Fall Down? [Slate]
· After Crane Collapse, Experts Call for More Tests [AP, via Google]
· New York Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of NYC collapse: Paul Brady]