That old timer who told me to trust the wind flags was dead on

Back in 2011 I was running a Liebherr on a high rise job in downtown Denver and this old rigger named Sal kept yelling at me to watch the wind flags on the neighboring buildings, not just the anemometer on the cab. I figured he was just being paranoid since the readout said we were under limits. About 20 minutes later a gust came around the corner of the Marriott and swung my load like a pendulum, nearly clipped a scaffold full of guys. Sal just looked at me and said 'the glass on the dial dont feel the street canyon.' Ever since that day I always eyeball the flags and the trees and anything else before I take a load over occupied space. Has anyone else had a close call that only made sense after someone older pointed out the real danger?

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paul2336d ago

You ever notice how the old guys always say the same kind of thing? Had a crane buddy down in Houston tell me something similar about watching the clouds off the bay instead of trusting the wind meter, since the meter sat down in a parking garage pocket and never felt what was coming across the water. He'd been running rigs since the 70s and swore the gadgets make you lazy because they give you a number and your brain stops looking around. Took a load of rebar up one day and the flags on the bank building were flat while the cab readout said 12 mph, go figure. Sal was right, the dial can't feel what the building does to the air.

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