mark731•22d agoProlific Poster

Crane pads on this site are way worse than 5 years ago

I been running tower cranes on the same downtown job for the last 8 years. Back in 2018 the pads were solid, flat, and held steady even through a 40 mph wind gust. Now they put down these cheap composite pads that crack after two heavy picks and shift under load. Saw a helper almost lose his footing last Tuesday because the pad split mid-lift. Anyone else notice the quality of site prep going downhill like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

ruby56122d ago

Wait they actually use composite pads now? That stuff is basically glorified plastic cutting boards, I'm surprised it didn't crack on the first load. Last time I saw one of those split it sounded like a gunshot and the whole crane bed shifted about 6 inches before they shut everything down. I swear some contractor is getting a sweet deal on these junk pads while the rest of us get to play roulette with our feet. Maybe next year they'll downgrade to cardboard and prayer.

claire37821d ago

That 6 inch shift ruby561 mentioned is exactly what I saw happen over on the Walnut Street project last fall. The pad split right down the middle and the crane tilted so bad the operator had to do an emergency swing just to avoid dropping the load on a parked bulldozer. I remember back in 2018 when they used these thick rubber and steel reinforced pads that could take a direct hit from a dropped rebar bundle without even denting. Now you get these composite things that look like they were cut from an old playground slide. Makes you wonder if the guy signing off on the site prep even bothers to watch a single pick before he heads back to the trailer.