Cranes

Like giant erector sets or insane Lego creations tower cranes, or T cranes as I call them, are seemingly everywhere in the DC area these days. (I think it has something to do with all the construction)

I've never heard of an accident involving one here in town (it must have happened at some point though) but up the road in NYC they've had a rough time of it this spring. (heard about that did ya?)

The WaPo had an article on the cranes on Monday, which while pretty basic is worth a peek. The paper also ran this cool graphic (a shame they didn't make it interactive online).



Any one else a little nervous when they saw that its all held up by a five foot thick slab? Or that the diagram doesn't cover heights? According to the article the tower part is simple and can rise up to 250 feet without any additional support or anchoring.

I think these cranes are great, I remember growing up with them and the 'Skins winning the Super Bowl ('91?) and there being huge banners along the crane arms that said Go 'Skins! and the like. Even after reading the article though, it seems a little preposterous that they don't just fall over.