- Source: Big Blue crane collapse
The Big Blue was a Lampson LTL-1500 Transi-Lift heavy lift crawler crane that collapsed on July 14, 1999, killing three iron workers.
Accident
On July 14, 1999, at approximately 5:12 pm, the Big Blue collapsed during the construction of the Miller Park (now American Family Field) baseball stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with a load of over 450 tonnes (440 long tons; 500 short tons) on the hook. Three Iron Workers Local 8 members, Jeffrey Wischer, William DeGrave, and Jerome Starr, were killed when the suspended personnel platform in which they were observing the lift was hit by the falling crane. A safety inspector was filming construction of the stadium on that day and captured the collapse on video as it occurred.
Wind speeds were between 20 and 21 miles per hour (32 and 34 km/h), with gusts of up to 26 to 27 miles per hour (42 to 43 km/h), at the time of the collapse. The boom was rated to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h), and other workers had expressed concern at the speed of the wind.
An investigation revealed that although the effects of side winds on the crane itself had been calculated, it had not been considered for the load the crane was lifting.
Aftermath and memorial
Three firms were fined a total of over US$500,000 as a result of the collapse.
The jurors awarded $1.4 million to each of the widows for pain and suffering, as well as $350,000 apiece for loss of companionship. In addition, Mitsubishi was ordered to pay punitive damages to the three women in the amount of $94 million
The widows of the workers, Marjorie DeGrave, Ramona Dulde-Starr and Patricia Wischer, settled a lawsuit against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of America, the company responsible for constructing the retractable roof of the stadium, for an undisclosed total of over $99 million.
Teamwork, a bronze sculpture by Omri Amrany, was installed at Miller Park in 2001 to honor the three workers. The Brewers postponed their home game against the Kansas City Royals scheduled for the day after the accident out of respect for the victims and wore an Ironworkers Local 8 memorial patch on the left breast of their jerseys following the accident for the remainder of the 1999 season.
Work on Miller Park was later completed with a new crane, a red and white Van Seumeren Demag CC-12600.
Because of this accident, Miller Park did not open until 2001. It was supposed to open in 2000.