What could possibly happen...

[CM1995]

In the comments it says they'd tried to shoot it twice already.

They did - http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2015/11/demolishing_this_historic_alab.html

I am not aware of Pheonix Services, never heard of them. The track hoe may have been the city's as they have a 160 set up like that. Don't know that but if it was then it makes a lot of sense.:cool2

My choice of action would've been a high reach with processor. If there wasn't enough height to reach the top, haul in or scrape up enough dirt to build a nice big ramp to access the top and take it down. The site is very large, there is enough area to scrape up plenty of dirt to make a ramp.

Take it from the top down at a safe distance, recycle the bricks and be done. Those bricks are worth some $$.

 

[td25c]

Good point Ron .

And a feller also needs to be ready to move out fast if need be . That may have been his mistake . Stack starts to crumble at 0:13 and hits the machine at 0:19

Operator sat still swinging the house instead of tracking out of the way . 4 to 5 seconds of tracking may have made all the difference in the outcome .

 

[Nige]

The "demolition engineer" (what...!) doesn't exactly appear to be the sharpest knife in the drawer.......
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-34929970

 

[tctractors]

Lets hope the Demolition Engineer has found something else to do for a living, as he proved near useless at Demo.
tctractors

 

[td25c]

Thanks for posting the story & video Nige .

That puts a face & voice to the equation . I may be reading it wrong but sounds like he was pretty worried about leaving the site after the failed blast attempt to take down the stack for safety reasons .

He then takes it upon himself to go one on one on the stack with the excavator . No one else was in danger at the time other then the operator .

He took care of the problem with what he had available at the time . That's what Men do :cool2

Don't have anything bad to say about him other then his planning of it .

LOL! His daughter didn't seem to upset over it .

 

[td25c]

td25c, in the U.K.if the driver worked for some of the Demolition outfits I know of, he would have a hole behind the Ear as he was pulled out of the cab

tctractors

We would just administer first aid in the event of an accident . No need to escalate any more damage mate .

 

[OCR]

Fred Dibnah was that mans name OIH.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Dibnah



OCR

 

[ol'stonebreaker]

All I have to say is "here's your sign".
Mike

 

[RonG]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Dibnah



OCR

Thank you OCR.I must conclude that the videos I have been watching were made in the '90s maybe?Quite a guy!Ron G

 

[Nige]

All I have to say is "here's your sign".

Haven't heard that one for a while but it fits the circumstances perfectly.

 

[ol'stonebreaker]

Haven't heard that one for a while but it fits the circumstances perfectly.

It seems to apply to more and more people today.
Mike

 

[rodtg]

I don't think any of the plonkers that have driven for us in the past in Africa would have done something so stupid...

One heck of an ad for Komatsu cabs though....

 

[digger242j]

That puts a face & voice to the equation . I may be reading it wrong but sounds like he was pretty worried about leaving the site after the failed blast attempt to take down the stack for safety reasons .

He then takes it upon himself to go one on one on the stack with the excavator . No one else was in danger at the time other then the operator .

Ok, I'll give him credit for that much.

He took care of the problem with what he had available at the time . That's what Men do :cool2

Don't have anything bad to say about him other then his planning of it .

But isn't that the whole issue? His "planning" seems to have been limited to I hope it doesn't fall on me, and if it looks like it's going to, I'll turn the machine so it lands on the cab roof, rather than coming through the windshield.

I don't want to see anyone killed, or even hurt, but he didn't set a very good example. I hope nobody else gets the notion that they can do anything similarly poorly planned and be reasonably sure they'll walk away from it...

 

[ba12348]

No one else was in danger at the time other then the operator .

Were they though? Yeah, that crowd was pretty far back, probably the line drawn when they tried to blast it, but then we get videos like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBi-y9gV0CA, and that was just a 3 story wall.

 

[td25c]

But isn't that the whole issue? His "planning"

Absolutely digger !

After the failed shooting attempt of this public event I imagine the pressure was on to get it over with .

Phifer kicks in to " Captain go's down with the ship mode " and hops in the excavator to finish it of .

Don't advise or condone it . But understand the situation .

Good lord ! No one else ever made a mistake & then have to wander in harms way to get the job done ? I have .

One name you can't call Phifer is a coward . He took care of the mistake and put the stack on the ground . Hoe has a little damage but nothing willie59 cant fix .

 

[td25c]

Were they though?

Good point ba12348 . This world can be a dangerous place to live in .

Gotta keep an eye open all the time for hazards .

Wake up & act accordingly to the surroundings would help a lot of folks .

 

[kshansen]

Absolutely digger !

After the failed shooting attempt of this public event I imagine the pressure was on to get it over with .

Phifer kicks in to " Captain go's down with the ship mode " and hops in the excavator to finish it of .

If you spend some time reading MSHA FatalGrams I think you will see how one of the largest number of people involved in them are supervisors/bosses. The next two on the list will often be the "New Guy" and the "Old Timer".

I guess I was lucky as I managed to go from the "New Guy" to the "Old Timer" without a lost time accident, a few bandaged up fingers over the 45 years at the quarry but no broken bones.

 

[td25c]

I imagine there is something to that kshansen . Something go's wrong and Boss steps in to remedy the situation .

" You youngsters step out of the way & get back " Seen that many a time .

 

[td25c]

Safety may have been the culprit that put Phifer in the bad position to begin with .

This historic stack was a big deal to the town . Public & media would be at the event . Shots may have been loaded light for that reason ? That was where it went wrong to begin with . Then he has to deal with it .

Don't know:beatsme

 

[oldtanker]

Prior Planning Prevents **** Poor Performance. That's the 6 "P's". So I would log this as a failure to follow the 6 P's.

There are few people in the entire world that could be expected to be seriously injured of killed on the job. They way I see 3 jobs. Firefighter, Law Enforcement Officer and a service member in any branch of the armed services. No on else should expect it. And the above listed jobs takes every precaution to prevent death and serious injury. Things like bullet proof vests and such. While accident can and will happen there is no job a construction worker is doing that is worth dying for. So when you take those big risks to "be a man and get the job done" it isn't making you a man. A man knows he has other responsibilities like to his family and the family comes first. You laid up in the hospital or laid out in the funeral home ISN'T taking care of anything.

Rick