Stratford Star

Crane topples at Moses Wheeler Bridge construction site

Written by John Kovach
Wednesday, 25 January 2012 21:13

Firefighters stabilize a crane that toppled while being loaded onto a trailer at the Moses Wheeler Bridge construction project Wednesday, Jan. 25. (John Kovach photo)

A crane toppled while being loaded onto a truck at the Moses Wheeler Bridge construction site Wednesday evening.

The crane was in a parking lot and did not fall into the Housatonic River, which the bridge spans.

No one was injured, but two vehicles were clipped by the boom as it collapsed, and fuel was leaking from the crane.

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Assistant Chief Lance Edwards of the Stratford Fire Department said firefighters have set up dikes around the crane to contain the full load of about 156 gallons of diesel. Edwards said the waterway is not threatened.

Jeff Pelletier, project engineer for the Connecticut Department of Transportation, said crews were “demobilizing” the crane when the accident occurred.

Edwards said the crane was being held aloft by two jacks as a trailer was backed below it. The crane would then have been lowered onto the bed of the trailer.

Pelletier said workers were binding the crane to the trailer with chains when a link broke, starting a chain of events.

Edwards said investigators must still determine why the crane laid over onto its side.

The crane is between the Boardwalk Marina and BJ’s. It clipped a Ford pickup and an Infiniti SUV parked just outside the fenced-in construction lot.

Boardwalk Marina owner Scott Mitchell, whose wife owns the Infiniti, said he and others were on a boat in the water when they heard a loud “ka-thud.” A short time later his security guard called to tell him a crane had collapsed. Mitchell said that was around 6 p.m.

Edwards said one engine responded to a call at 7:28 p.m. The lieutenant on that truck then requested more units, including TAC 5 and an assistant chief. The Fairfield County HazMat unit, based in Stratford, also responded.

The crane will be left in its current position overnight so crews can devise a plan to upright it and remove it during daylight Thursday, Edwards said. Police will guard the scene overnight.

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