Dive Brief:

• After a period in which some cranes got a lot of negative publicity – such the one that dangled over midtown Manhattan during Superstorm Sandy – the American Society of Mechanical Engineers is making owners and operators aware that there are more stringent design and operation standards in place than there used to be.
• It used to be a recommendation but is now mandatory that tower cranes be designed to meet the same standards for wind loading that the American Society of Civil Engineers sets for buildings and foundations, ASCE 7.
• The standards also call for a tear-down inspection of drive systems, motors and gearboxes every five years because those components cannot be seen in daily or annual inspections.

Dive Insight:

Peter Juhren, who chairs a tower crane subcommittee for the ASCE's B30.3 standard for cranes, said the changes – made in 2012 but not yet widely understood – were needed to keep standards in line with what people in the industry expected for safety. In addition to mandatory steps, the standard also now recommends doing non-destructive testing of connector pins and bolts during the five-year inspection.