Former operator says most tower cranes able to withstand winds up to 225 km/h

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As hurricane Fiona approaches Nova Scotia, many people are wondering: What about the cranes? 

It’s a valid question considering the crane that collapsed onto a building in downtown Halifax during post-tropical storm Dorian in September 2019. 

But according to Thomas Barth, tower cranes throughout the province should be able to withstand Fiona — as long as the brake is released. 

“Cranes are very safe and can withstand, depending on the crane manufacturer, (225 kilometres per hour) winds,” Barth said in a phone interview Thursday. 

Barth, a former crane operator and accident investigator based in South Carolina, U.S.A., said releasing the brake allows for the arm to “swirl around in the wind.”

“If the brake hasn’t been released, then there’s a lot of wind on that arm that sticks out and it twists the tower, and it’s most likely going to come down,” he said.

Fiona, which will track into the Maritimes late Friday and Saturday, is set to bring hurricane-force winds. Halifax, eastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton were placed under a hurricane watch Thursday afternoon. 

Marla MacInnis, a spokesperson for the province’s Labour Department, said the department has been in touch with construction crews to ensure they are prepared for the incoming storm. 

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“Officers have been inspecting locations with tower cranes proactively throughout hurricane season and will be conducting additional inspections in preparation for the storm,” MacInnis said in an emailed response. 

But some may ask: Why not just take the tower cranes down to avoid something like a weld failure, which caused the crane to collapse during Dorian? 

Barth explained that would take a lot of time and resources to do, especially as construction is booming across Nova Scotia, resulting in many cranes. 

“There are many different scenarios for dismantling them,” Barth said. “You have to consider how tall they are, do you have enough cranes that can reach and take them down and it takes quite a while to take them down.” 

Barth estimates a crane between 18 and 27 metres high would take at least a day and a half to dismantle. 

“You’ve got to get guys way up there, disconnect bolts, they need to hook up the crane and then you need a big crane to take that stuff down."

Barth said some states like Florida, where three cranes collapsed during hurricane Irma in 2017, have considered making it mandatory that crews dismantle cranes before a hurricane. 

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