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Saw a jib crane collapse at a refinery in Baton Rouge last month
One of the support welds gave way while a guy was lifting a heat exchanger tube bundle. It wasn't overloaded, just a bad weld that looked fine on the outside. Has anyone else started doing dye penetrant tests on all their crane attachments now?
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brooke_walker237d ago
Read that part about it looking fine on the outside and had to stop for a second. That's the scary thing about weld defects underneath the surface, you just never know until something lets go. I know a guy who worked a similar job in Houston and he always said a visual check is just not enough for any lifting equipment.
We started doing dye penetrant on all our crane hooks and lifting lugs about two years ago after a close call. It really does catch those tiny cracks that you would never see with the naked eye. It is a pain to schedule and costs a little more, but it is worth it for peace of mind, especially on heat exchanger bundles that weigh a ton or more.
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