Tragedy should raise awareness.

  As I sit looking at this situation in Texas, I have to bring a point out to the community that we all live in.

  I do not have a crystal ball, but I do have the understanding afforded to me from years of experience and direct contact to the engineering that designs boom pumps.

  I ask all of you to check the max load info for your booms! I teach the Inspection school at PM America and when helping boom inspectors we talk about looking for small hints as to the health of a boom. When a pump is exposed to a load that is greater than the design capacity for the unit it can be damaged in areas that are not always visible to the eye. And keeping the tip at a 90° angle to the pour is not the answer, the entire structure is still subject to the extra load and you do not know for sure where the weakest link is going to be.

  When a load is put on to a boom the entire unit is stressed from the tip to the outriggers. Every component in the boom (arms, cylinders, pins, connections) is designed for the maximum loads that are expected if used as directed. Overloads caused by improper use can damage some or all of these components. That damage could result in a catastrophe today, partial damage that will get worse over time and show up tomorrow, or a weakening of the part that will decrease its lifetime and its ability to withstand the abuse if it happens again.  

  The load capacity is there for a reason, not to be a pain in the Rear but to protect and prolong the life of all the people and equipment in the industry. The boom you are operating today … do you know everything it has done? With booms and operators moving all around these days, can you be sure that boom has not been misused in the past … and that it will “be ok this one time” when you subject it to some form of abuse? We as an industry need to protect our own … JUST DON’T DO IT!

  I get comments like, “that’s how we always do it” and “your competitor will do it”.

Do you think they will be on site to help when your boom is resting on the ground or building or worse a person?

  I have been on sites that Preach that safety is the #1 Priority and then the same site demands that the operator lifts a trimming pipe or extra system. That is not promoting Safety, that kind of reasoning is perpetuating a continuing issue.

  Please understand that I am in no way implying that this is what happened to the 52 in Texas, I have only seen what’s on the web. But I do want all of you to be aware of the potential to have a failure caused from improper operation during the lifetime of a pump.

Travelteck 

What an excellent topic.Could this been a preventable accident? Perhaps,I just wonder how many operators in there daily pre-trips really look at the booms.As in every man made object there is always the chance of "what if".Chances are there was a warning sign,ie cracked paint which warrents further investigation.

If you have pic's of the boom assembly process please post,showing the gussets (without devuldging secrets).Many times there can be critical damage done to a boom that cannot be found until to late (inside).Boys and girls,we are talking some real stuff on these super lightweight booms.Remember,ricky racer may take your pump out,over stress it,and the damage may not show up for months.

But then again who am I?

I heard from a reliable source here in town where this tragedy happened that the CP company went over this boom just two weeks ago.  It was said that a pin in the main section was under recall from the manufacturer.  They checked numbers on every pin on that boom and the manufacturer said none of the numbers came up on their recall list.  I have many pictures of this boom on this particular jobsite.  Looking at it in the pics, you cant tell anything went wrong.  I got pictures today of OSHA on and off the pump.  They were taking pics and x-rays of the boom.  Please keep all of these individuals in your thoughts and prayers!

Travelteck,

You are so right on so many levels with this topic. I know personally of three booms that were used beyond there weight restrictions by owner/operators. They were either lifting trowl machines onto 2nd story platforms or unloading a truck . Other instances were dragging too much system because someone told them too. One guy hit a bridge and it was not untill two years later when his boom failed that the internal damage from the 2 year old bridge hit was discovered.

For me personally I have always been just alittle amazed when I talk to an operator that has been honest with me about the misuse of his boom then I show him a piece of steel I carry with me of just how thin his boom actually is ,and he is astonished at the thickness.

A concrete boom is NOT designed like a crane in any way ,and if someone saw me do a boom section they really get an understanding of how these amazing machines are built.But they also come away with a new respect of the thin design. 50 percent of the structure of a boom is the actual pipeline,that should give any one a real good indication of the design.

Im not insinuating this is what happened in the recent accident in Texas, I wont even guess at what happened there. But this accident is a sobering wake up call to our entire industry. Never work under a boom if avoidable and if you have to use caution.

Once again I would like to extend my deepest sypothies to the operator, his company and to the men and there families who lost there loved ones. This is indeed a terrible blow to our industry that will take alot of time to recover from.

I know the 55m change to 4 inch pipe on the last section,does the 52m??

@ rusty22. The 52 has 5in pipe throught out the whole boom.

When we converted 4 52's to 55's 4 1/2" pipe was used.The reducing was a question,tried straight and reducing elbows.The 52's had a pretty smooth boom but once converted bounce became an issue.

just the facts

What's sad,a great topic sits here all weekend with little response.mmmmmm

Yea many.. But we have a bit of a situation here don't you agree? It's kind a like.... Speechless.....  I always kind of assumed that the boom would at least handle a 100 or 200 kg extra with all the boomdancing it should withstand.. And what if a guy jumps up and climbs in to your hose... But now... I don't know what to think anymore.. But if I have to stop lifting even a 5m 3'' hose (which I should ..??) Than thats gona change a lot for me and my customers...

Traveltech very well said .and Thank You for your honesty and your advise .The #1 priorty is SAFETY you have to say it to yourself everyday before you start your day .it sounds corny but stopping to think and say it out loud to yourself .all of what you said is so right .We think these pumps are indestructable and over engineered but the facts are they arent .but the thing is most if not all of the accidents can be avoided by THINKING first before you do the wrong thing .

again Thank You