|
|
|
The
following case is based on an actual incident. However, individual actors and
company names have been changed due to possible pending litigation. In
addition, although conversations and memorandums used are based on evidence
surrounding the case, they are hypothetical in nature, and are used to
illustrate important issues rather than to attempt an actual reenactment of
what "really" happened.
|
|
In 1982,
a television station video crew was filming the raising of their new
television tower. The antenna was designed and manufactured by Antenna
Engineering, Inc., a moderately-sized local firm. Riggers, Inc., a small
local firm, was contracted to raise and assemble the antenna. During the
initial design, Antenna Engineering submitted antenna plans to Riggers for
their approval. Riggers approved the plans which provided for placement of
the antenna hoisting lugs. These lugs provided attachment points for lifting
cables which would be used for removing the antenna sections from the
delivery truck, and for hoisting the antenna into the air for final assembly
on a 1000 foot tower. A crew of riggers who had constructed such towers for
many years was on-site. The crew used a vertically-climbing crane mounted on
the already constructed portion of the tower to lift each new section of the
tower, and finally, the two-section antenna onto the top of the tower. The
design called for a three-legged tower, and as each new section was lifted,
it was positioned and bolted onto the previous tower sections, one piece at a
time. The tower legs were solid steel bars with 8 inch diameters. The tower
sections weighed approximately 10,000 pounds and were each 40 feet long. They
were raised without incident to a height of about 1000 feet.
|
|
The two
final antenna sections arrived at the site and assembly proceeded as planned,
until the last antenna section was ready to be hoisted into position. This
section was different from the other sections of the antenna because it had
microwave baskets attached to the sides of the antenna. The
placement of the hoisting lugs allowed the antenna to be lifted horizontally
off of the delivery truck, but the baskets interfered with the lifting cables
when the antenna was rotated to a vertical position. A make-shift extension
to the lifting lug had to be fashioned by the riggers to permit the last
section's vertical hoisting. Unfortunately, on the day of videotaping during
the hoisting of this last section, something went wrong, and while the
antenna was being hoisted, the bolts on the make-shift lifting lug extension
failed. The result was a tragedy. Several riggers fell 1000 feet to their
death.
|