Crane Collapses Along I-4 in Orlando

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on December 29, 2017

A little over a week ago, a crane operator was operating a large crane close to State Road 408, where Anderson Street and Division Avenue intersect, when something happened to cause the crane to collapse. According to the SGL, the company that owned the crane and employed the crane operator, the 300-ton piece of equipment was part of the high-profile I-4 Ultimate Project which is aimed at improving the traffic artery along Interstate 4 that has been such a nuisance for drivers in the past.

It was just about 5:30 on a Wednesday morning when, according to Russ Handler, a spokesperson for SGL, the individual operating the crane attempted to move the crane into the right position to begin lifting a massive steel girder. It seems that when the crane operator tried lifting the grinder that the crane itself simply tipped over. This, obviously, should not happen.

Investigators are currently working to try and uncover the reasons for the crane’s collapse.

The individual inside of the crane at the time of the incident had to be rescued from within the machine by emergency personnel. This person was then transported to a nearby hospital, although the report from Handler and SGL did indicate that the individual was doing very well and did not suffer from severe or critical injuries as a result of the crane’s collapse.

Once the person inside the crane was rescued, the next project was to clean up the collapsed machine itself. Draped across State Road 408’s on-ramp, workers were forced to saw through the bottom of the crane in order to fully clear the area of debris and allow traffic to continue flowing through the area. The ramp was closed from 5:30 in the morning, when the accident occurred, until nearly 1:00 in the afternoon, almost eight hours later.

At the time of this writing, investigators with the SGL company are attempting to uncover the reasons behind the crane’s malfunction and collapse. It is not known whether or not the crane operator, who was not named in SGL’s statement, was released from the hospital.

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.