Crane Wind Speed – Knowing When It Is Too Much

Crane Wind Speed – Knowing When It Is Too Much

Although it’s easy to forget at times, the weather does have an influence on heavy machines like cranes. Many crane operators will make sure that Anti Two Block devices and Safe Load Indicators are installed, but they will forget to include something as important as a Wind Speed Meter or a Wind Speed Indicator.

In January, 2013, in Xi’an the capital of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, a tower crane collapsed in the early hours of the morning on a construction site killing four of the workers and injuring four others because of a sudden thunder shower and strong winds, causing the jib to fall on the prefabricated apartments which housed the construction workers near at hand.

Therefore, as it can be seen, heavy winds, thunder showers and other such similar inclement weather cannot be ignored.

What is the phenomena of Crane Wind Speed?

Even though cranes are heavy objects, wind speeds beyond a certain limit can make the crane unbalanced. It is a generally accepted fact that if the wind speed goes beyond 30 mph, crane operators should stop operating the cranes.

Ways to prevent accidents

1. Use of specialised devices: Wind speed can be measured by a host of devices. Weather vanes, windsocks, anemometers and wind profilers are all used to measure the wind speed and help determine if conditions are safe to work in or not. However, not all of these devices are sufficient for the task. Weather vanes just show the direction the wind is going in and are mainly used decoratively. Windsocks are mostly used in airports and chemical plants, where chances of gas leaks are more prevalent. Wind profilers use radar and sound waves and are therefore expensive and also require specially trained personnel to be able to glean information from it. Therefore the best devices for crane operators to depend on are the anemometers. Modern day anemometers are small, hand-held devices, are wireless and can transmit data to crane operators on-the-fly.
2. The local news reports also provide reports on the changing weather patterns through the entire day. Also, nowadays there are dozens of weather apps that can be downloaded and used on smartphones or tablets, thus giving crane operators information in real-time. For example, Yahoo Weather provides an app, completely free of charge and ad free that can be used on both Android and iOS devices.

Conclusion

Inclement weather can easily cause a lot of damage, both in terms of machinery and manpower, as seen in the abovementioned story. Therefore, it is imperative that crane operators, worksite managers and management make sure that there are devices available that people can use to make informed decisions about when work should be stopped and or continued.

LSI Wireless offers many such reliable and affordable devices, such as the Wind Speed Meter, for purchase. With a measurement range of up to 150 mph and an accuracy of plus or minus 3 mph, the LSI Wireless Wind Speed Meter is your best option for worksite use.

Mike bode, the founder of lsiwireless.com, a global dealer of lsi-robway™ products.