Hartford, WI – Crews have been working since 7 a.m. today, September 11, 2021, on removing a crane that collapsed on top of the roof of Schubert’s Hartford Movie Theater,1351 S. Grand Avenue, Hartford, WI.
The situation initially occurred around 9:15 a.m. on Friday, September 10, 2021.
Contractors were working on the roof when the crane apparently became unbalanced and collapsed onto the top of the building.
According to theatre owner Bill Schubert, the roofing company showed up for pre-construction work and extended the crane boom over the building to see how far it would reach when the crane tipped over. “It hit the roof and landed on two cement brick walls on the roof. It didn’t actually contact the roof,” he said.
The theater owner said the work started as renovations to the facility. “We’re adding a new roof, new vending stand, new parking lot. We’re not off to a good start but it’s going to be nice when it’s all done.”
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It looks like the building side supports for the crane weren’t out far enough to counter balance the extension of the crane. If they were all the way extended that crane shouldn’t have tipped over without a load.
Outriggers have to extended fully especially on the side you are extending the boom. The driver had to be new.
I’ve never been a big fan of these highway tractors that get converted into cranes. My reason and thought in this goes to the lack of weight in the straight truck before the conversion, which could be ‘over demanding’ the vehicle.
I’m just glad to hear nobody was killed.