Crosswind gust in Houston almost put my boom in a power line

Last Tuesday I was setting steel near the Ship Channel and a sudden gust caught the load sideways. I felt the swing start to drift and my spotter yelled "watch the lines!" before I could even react. I dumped the load as fast as I safely could and got the boom level, but we were maybe 5 feet from a 69kV line. After that I checked my anemometer and it was reading 28 mph, way over my comfort zone for that radius. How do you guys handle quick gusts like that, do you trust the wind meter or your gut in the moment?

1 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

1 Comment

tara7455d ago

Man, you did the right thing dumping that load but I gotta push back on the whole "trust your gut" thing. Your gut is what got you that close in the first place, right? You said yourself the meter read 28 and you stayed on the pick anyway. A meter doesn't care if you're tired, rushing, or trying to impress the foreman. Guys who fly by feel get bit because they get used to 20 mph days and stop noticing when it creeps to 30. Five feet from a 69kV line is a wake up call that your feel was off, not proof it works. Set a hard number before you boom up and stick to it no matter what your gut says.

3