April 8, 2008

U.S. Crane and Rigging completes first New York crane ‘jump’ since March 15 crash

NEW YORK – After the last massive section of crane slid into place on a recent afternoon at a construction site in Brooklyn, Thomas Auringer, the owner of the company that pulled off the feat without a hitch, sat on the bed of a pickup across the street, swinging his legs.

“I’m happy,” he said. “Very happy. It was a nice, smooth operation.”

The yellow tower crane, which started at 153 feet, was the first in the city to be “jumped” — or jacked up to raise its height — since another crane collapsed two weeks ago during a similar operation on the East Side, killing seven people, according to a story in the New York Times.

The jumping of the crane in Brooklyn had been postponed the previous day after hours of preparation because of high winds. Nevertheless, a crowd much bigger than usual — city building inspectors, safety managers, police officers, construction workers, pedestrians, drivers and reporters — watched on Saturday as steel frames were hoisted into place.

The mood was looser as a team of riggers, operators and supervisors worked together to add 100 feet to the crane at Flatbush and Myrtle Avenues in downtown Brooklyn, where a 38-storey, $152 million condominium building is rising.

With further jumping, the crane tower will eventually climb to 400 feet, “right on the button,” said Mr. Auringer, the owner of U.S. Crane and Rigging LLC. Roughly 13 storeys of the building are complete. As the hydraulic operator lifted the crane tower so that each 20-foot section could be slid in, the motion of the massive tower was nearly imperceptible.

One of the construction workers said, “It was like watching paint dry.”

Mr. Auringer said he was relieved not because he had successfully executed the procedure, which he described as routine, but because it had brought an end to the added scrutiny, at least for now.

New regulations in the wake of the collapse on March 15 call for a city inspector to be present whenever a crane is erected, dismantled or jumped.

“Everyone’s eyes are on us,” he said. “So we have to make sure we cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s.”

But the presence of an inspector did nothing to quell the anxieties of Shaquana Brown, 29, who was walking to Jay Street to do some shopping. Brown looked skyward with apprehension.

“I try not to come this way too often,” she said. “It’s just too scary, especially after the incident in Manhattan and the accident in Miami.” (Two workers in the Miami were killed recently when a seven-ton section of crane fell 30 stories onto a house.)

“Look at that lot,” Brown said, pointing to a cleared lot surrounded with construction signs. “Pretty soon there’s going to be another one on the opposite side of the street.”

And as she sped across Flatbush Avenue, she pointed out that the crane will have to be jumped again.

DCN News Services

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