Crane collapses in Bellevue, WA with no injuries this time

[uppityperson]

For those who have been following crane accidents, here is another with no injuries this time.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008078643_crane29m.html

Crane collapses in Bellevue

By Nick Perry

Seattle Times staff reporter

A large crane and pile-driving rig collapsed across two lakefront properties Monday in Bellevue, sending the driver scrambling for safety and frightening neighbors.

Patrick Foulon, who lives on Lake Washington a few houses from the accident in the 70 block of Cascade Key in the Newport Shores neighborhood, said his family was about to take a spin in its boat at about 2 p.m. when his mom gasped, and said "Oh my god." They looked up and saw the rig, which he estimated at 80 feet tall and which towered above trees and homes, swaying from side to side. Then it fell, he said, landing with a sound like two trains crashing. Foulon said workers had been demolishing a house and doing some construction on the site over the past few days.

Workers on the site said the pile-driving rig, which was mounted on tank-style tracks, had begun to sink in soft soil. The driver had stayed aboard to swivel the rig away from any houses or people before jumping clear as it toppled, they said. Bruce McDowell, vice president of pile-driving equipment supplier McDowell Northwest, said the workers' story sounded "about right" but declined to elaborate....
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Crane safety has become a hot-button issue after a series of recent accidents across the country. Less than two weeks ago, a 30-story crane collapsed at a Houston oil refinery, killing four workers. In Bellevue, a 210-foot tower crane collapsed November 2006, killing 31-year-old Microsoft attorney Matthew Ammon, who was in his apartment at the time. Fla

[aspergris]

1. 2nd crane collapse in bellevue

in 2 years

[BlooInBloo]

2. My hometown! I should check it out sometime....

There's really no reason for an adult to be there, unless they're raising kids, however.