December 22, 2021
Approximate time: 1342
Weather Conditions: Clear

Contacted to respond to Lincoln Highway at the Kinzers Post Office Entrance for a crane that had been struck from behind and was overturned. We were being requested to the scene by a representative of the crane company. Photos were sent to our office from the scene. Based upon the information we were given, we dispatched three of our heavy duty sliding rotator recovery units to the scene. We also contacted Null’s Recovery & Site Restoration to respond to the scene.

Upon arrival, the Grove crane was found to have been making a right turn off of Lincoln Highway westbound into the parking lot when it was struck from behind by a loaded tractor trailer causing the crane to overturn. The crane suffered major damage when it overturned. There was a large spill of hydraulic oil from the crane along with other motor vehicle fluids. The fire department had placed a boom around the crane to contain the spill.

The crane’s jib had been knocked from its cradle and was partially on the crane, partially on the ground. The dunnage storage compartments were compromised allowing some of the dunnage to fall out of the crane. The boom holder for the crane’s boom was sheared and severely damaged allowing the cranes boom to be free hanging. The rear axle housing on the crane was severely bent from the impact with the tractor trailer making the crane not able to be safely towed from the scene.

One of our heavy duty rollbacks was dispatched to the scene to haul the cranes jib back to our facility. Our lowboy trailer was also dispatched to the scene to haul the crane.

Absorbents were spread onto the ground by Null’s Recovery & Site Restoration to further contain the fluids that were leaking from the crane.

The crane’s boom was chained in place to ensure it did not try to rotate causing damage to the swing drive while the crane was uprighted.

One of the rotators was moved into position to lift the jib off of the crane. Another of the rotators was moved into position in the driveway at the front of the crane. Once the jib was lifted off of and clear of the crane, two of the rotators worked together to lift the crane back to an upright position. Our MatJack landing cushions were used to gently set the crane back onto it’s wheels avoiding any secondary damages.

The cranes jib was loaded onto the rollback and secured.

Once the crane was upright, all of the rigging was removed, inspected, and returned to it’s respective location. One of the rotators was then hooked to the front of the crane to move it out into the roadway so that it could be loaded onto our lowboy to be hauled from the scene. Once on the roadway, the crane was winched onto the lowboy and secured for transport.

NR&SR worked to clean up the fluid spill and crane parts from the scene. The crane owners were onsite to remove the dunnage and crane’s rigging from the scene.

The crane was hauled from the accident scene to our facility where it was unloaded in our secure storage yard. Our wheel loader was used to lift the crane’s jib off of the rollback and set it onto the ground.

A HUGE THANK YOU TO THE KINZERS FIRE COMPANY VOLUNTEERS FOR THEIR HELP WITH SCENE SAFETY AND TRAFFIC CONTROL! AS ALWAYS, IT IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!