Typical Crawler Crane

Mecca Crawler crane collapse

On 11 September 2015, a crawler crane toppled over

onto the Masjid al-Haram, the Grand Mosque in

Mecca, Saudi Arabia. 118 people were killed and 394
injured. The city was preparing for the Hajj pilgrimage.
The incident reportedly occurred shortly before 5:20

p.m. on Friday, one of the busiest times of the week.

The crane fell into the east side of the mosque, with its
boom crashing through the roof. One witness reported
that the crane fell on the third floor above Al-Safa and
Al-Marwah at 5:45 p.m. local time.

Mecca Crawler crane collapse

The crane collapsed near Al-Salam gate on the upper side

of Al-Masaa area and that caused the collapse of a small

part of Al-Masaa and another section of Al-Mataf, the
bridge area around the holy Kaaba .
After receiving the report on the investigation into the

incident, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman

ordered on September 15, only four days after the incident,
that top officials of the Saudi Binladin Group be banned
from traveling outside the kingdom and the group is also
suspended from taking new projects.

Mecca Crawler crane collapse

The German-made Liebherr Group crawler crane LR 11350

involved in the incident is operated by the Saudi Binladin

Group, . Saudi Binladen Group is the second largest
construction company in the world and was founded by
billionaire Mohammed Bin Laden.
The Liebherr Group responded to the accident by sending
local engineers and engineers from their crane
manufacturing plant in Germany to help in the
investigation of the accident and to assist on site.
The Saudi Gazette reported that Khaled Al-Faisal, the Emir
(Governor) of Mecca, had ordered the Binladin Group to
relocate the crane from pedestrian areas and to deploy
safeguards to prevent pilgrims entering the construction
zone, eleven days before the accident.

Mecca Crawler crane collapse

The report released by

Liebherr Group states that

the crane did not have a
technical defect. According
to the findings of the
Liebherr crane experts sent
to Saudi Arabia, the LR
11350 was erected at the
time of the accident with a
boom length of
approximately 190 metres,
parked outside of the
Grand Mosque and put out
of operation. Previously it
had sporadically been used
for assembly works.

Mecca Crawler crane collapse

In the late afternoon of 11

September 2015, during a strong

thunderstorm and sandstorm
with measured wind speeds of
80 km/h (according to the CNN
Weather Service) and 105 km/h
(wind recording of a Liebherr
Tower Crane near the place of
accident), heavy rain falls and a
sudden drop in temperature by
20 degrees Celsius, the crawler
crane was caught by the wind
and tilted over the last support
rollers of its crawler tracks,
Liebherr says.

Mecca Crawler crane collapse

The operating instructions of the

LR 11350 and the associated Wind

Speed Charts show that the
crawler crane could not withstand
such a high wind load and that the
boom should have been lowered to
the ground preventatively to avoid
the tilting of the crawler crane.

Liebherr has taken this very tragic

accident in Mecca as reason to

point out again to the operators of
comparable Liebherr cranes
worldwide the influences that
wind has on cranes and to the
unconditional compliance with
the appropriate regulations
mentioned in the operating
instructions.

Lesson learned
One week look ahead weather forecast shall be considered and
communicated to all concerned parties /lifting crew
II. Crane assembly and erection procedures shall be established according
to crane manufacturer's procedures and it shall be reviewed and
approved by a competent personnel
III. Crane operator shall be familiar with crane critical lifting operation,
such as (load chart, length of boom , angle , counter weight , ground
bearing test (GBT), radius,..etc)
IV. Crane Maneuvering area shall be free from any personnel and /or
obstacles
V. Secure all cranes at the end of every working shift
VI. Re- assessment and evaluation of all working cranes shall be done by a
competent personnel to ensure safe lifting operation
VII. Competency assessment for all lifting crew specially crane operator and
lifting engineer/supervisor shall be reviewed and approved by
approved certification authority.
VIII. Conduct a specific lifting training program to all lifting in charged
personnel to enhance their competency (Construction/HSE)
I.