MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
World Cup stadium tragedy: union says soil was 'too soft' for the heavy crane
A safety engineer at the World Cup stadium where a giant crane collapse killed two workers allegedly warned his supervisor of possible problems with the operation, only to have his concerns brushed aside, a labor union leader charged on Thursday, as sniping over the accident heated up. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesWhy is it that these 3 rd world countries spoksepersons have to remain anonomous, because they face reprisals. No wonder they lie and cheat because feel the truth will have repercussions. Man up you lot.
Nov 30th, 2013 - 08:00 am - Link - Report abuse 0@ 1 golfcronie
Nov 30th, 2013 - 11:41 am - Link - Report abuse 0I think you may have misunderstood what is going on here.
It seems to me that the “safety engineer” is more like akin to a normal worker with a fancy title which portrays something that he is not: he is not an engineer.
No QUALIFIED engineer would tolerate being overridden especially by a “supervisor” (not a Manager, note) and no EXPERIENCED engineer would accept it full stop.
That doesn’t stop the guy from being correct, which he is, it just leaves him without the necessary authority to see the job done correctly and the results are for everyone to see.
Hasn’t Odebrecht just been awarded the contract for the soy and grains highway; that will be under the spotlight if the government have any qualified engineers of their own that is.
Odebrecht is awarded most big construction jobs in Brasil.
Nov 30th, 2013 - 12:57 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The Mercopress article seems a bit mixed up.
It says the warning was about the rain-soaked ground supporting the *roof section*.
Then it says the ground showed no evidence of instability.
Yet we know that it was the crane that 'lost its posture' and then crashed into the stadium roof.
Whatever; it was the 'need for speed', and cutting corners on safety, that produced the problem for Corinthians' Itaquerao Stadium and the two deaths.
There was a raft of hard-core over which the crane's caterpillar-tracks were moved.
It looks to me as if a high loading and the angles of lift vectored the crane's superstructure beyond the stable footprint.
I guess we might see the technical report in the professional journals, given time.
I hope that São Paulo has time to participate in the Cup. We can not stay out.
Nov 30th, 2013 - 02:02 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Generally, in my experience an Engineer would satisfy himself that the ground was suitable to accept the loadings, but it is the crane operator that has the last word on safety, in most cranes there is an audible warning system plus a visible warning light when the crane is overloaded.
Nov 30th, 2013 - 02:46 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@ idiot 1 that also needs to grow up: same happens in real third world nations as the US (where I live), the Netherlands (where I'm from), other EU nations include that (cccps) corrupt crony capitalist and police state island called the UK.
Nov 30th, 2013 - 03:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0There is still time for the arena and the damage is not so big as copy and past mercopruts likes to claim ( real damage is, 2 workers died). The arenas is now expected to be 100% between mid jan, way on time for the World Cup.
@6 Why do you enjoy making yourself look like an idiot? If you offered a reasoned argument it would carry so much more weight than your ridiculous claims.
Nov 30th, 2013 - 05:23 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@ 5 golfcronie
Nov 30th, 2013 - 06:25 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“an Engineer would satisfy himself that the ground was suitable to accept the loadings, but it is the crane operator that has the last word on safety, in most cranes there is an audible warning system plus a visible warning light when the crane is overloaded.”
I don’t know about Brazil but in the UK the Site Engineer has the final say as to whether a mobile (or fixed) crane will be ALLOWED to operate. The crane operator is quite within his rights to decline to operate the crane if he is unconvinced of the safety of his machine on the site but he cannot overrule the engineer and operate his machine when it has been prohibited.
If the Site Engineer (a professionally qualified one that is) allows crane operations and an incident happens and people are hurt (or could have been hurt) it is the engineer that is prosecuted by the HSE irrespective that the crane operator agreed to operate the crane (he has no professional responsibility in the matter).
If the SE is not so qualified the responsibility goes up the chain until a “responsible person” is found and he / she is prosecuted.
@8
Nov 30th, 2013 - 08:42 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Sorry but i think you misunderstood me. I stated that the crane operator has the last word on safety and he has. I did mention that the cranes have audible and visible warning lights. If the warnings are ignored it is the crane operators fault , the alarm systems cannot be ignored. I would respectfully suggest that the alarms were either ignored or switched off in the Brazilian disaster.
@ 7
Dec 01st, 2013 - 05:14 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Nazi Lady, your love is gall. People like Fido “é coisa rara” . You lose your time under the sun.
@ 9 golfcronie
Dec 01st, 2013 - 05:17 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I am confident that the load indicators and alarm warnings WERE operating for one very simple reason: ALL modern cranes are computer controlled and the computer uses the load cells located at various points in the structure to determine maximum loading for the conditions required in use.
In other words, the computer will STOP the action BEFORE it becomes even close to failure, then sound the “alarm” which is, in reality a “you have done something stupid” statement to the operator.
BUT, none of that matters because the crane was located on unstable foundations and “tilted” to put all the structure beyond the working envelope and then it “broke”.
P.S. please re-read my second paragraph in 8) above, that is how it is I can assure you.
@10 LOL!
Dec 01st, 2013 - 06:08 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“Nazi Lady, your love is gall. People like Fido “é coisa rara” .You lose your time under the sun.”
Is that from the script of a bad spy movie?
Agent Brasiliero is either a T.H.R.U.SH. or KAOS operative.
Dec 01st, 2013 - 08:32 pm - Link - Report abuse 0It is Elaine, it's from that new Austin Powers movie.....“The Spy Who Shagged Himself.”
Dec 02nd, 2013 - 12:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@6 If you live in the US, why didn't call yourself Wily Coyote? How much more appropriate. Still a dog. But also a smartass who constantly gets his comeuppance. Accurate, eh?
Dec 02nd, 2013 - 01:10 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@10 Trouble with English? “And rare thing”. Let's hope that “rarity” turns into “extinct”. Best thing for a mad dog.
@13 I don't know about “operative”. I'm betting that it's suffering from thrush.
'
THRUSH==== Irritating c**t
Dec 02nd, 2013 - 04:16 pm - Link - Report abuse 0LOL @ the comments ^.
Dec 02nd, 2013 - 06:12 pm - Link - Report abuse 0#15
Dec 02nd, 2013 - 09:19 pm - Link - Report abuse 0He likes to pretend to live in the USA.....makes him feel better when he looks out his window deep inside villa 31.
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