GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- The numbers are still being tallied, but February's crane collapse during construction of a Kent County Jail addition will come with "a healthy price tag," Undersheriff Jon Hess said.
Hess' statement comes as state authorities today issued a proposed $28,000 fine against G-2 Inc., the Cedar Springs company that supplied the crane and operator.
Investigators with the Michigan Occupational Health and Safety Administration determined that operator error -- the usual operator of the Sumitomo SC1500 lattice boom crawler crane had taken the day off -- was a primary cause of the Feb. 10 accident.
The crane buckled, sending part of the boom down on new construction and another part onto a 1950s-era fleet building.
A construction worker had a fractured shoulder and two jail inmates in the fleet garage had minor injuries.
The MIOSHA investigation determined that the fill-in crane operator was moving the main boom and the luffing jib boom simultaneously when the accident happened.
Investigators said the operator was lifting up the booms, but allowed the main boom to hit the boom stops and keep pulling on itself. Cables eventually stressed and the main boom collapsed onto itself.
MIOSHA officials ruled that G-2 did several things improperly, including:
-- Not being in compliance with the crane manufacturer's specifications.
-- Modifying crane controls without the manufacturer's approval.
-- Not providing the correct manufacturer's manual for the crane.
-- Not ensuring the operator was properly trained.
-- Having a load chart that was not intended to cover a "non-pinned" boom setup.
Hess said analysts are still collecting financial numbers on dollars spent to temporarily house more than 150 inmates at other jails, as well as fixing the fleet garage and repairing damage to the addition.
He said he expects insurance companies ultimately to make the pay out, likely in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Meanwhile, the once-delayed jail addition project is now ahead of schedule due to good weather conditions this spring. The project is expected to cost $28 million.
E-mail John Tunison: jtunison@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/johntunison
Source: www.mlive.com
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