NEW YORK ? It takes a lot of paper to raise a crane in New York City these days.
On top of maintenance records and operator certification tests, engineers have to sign off
before cranes are raised or dismantled. The city also requires documents that prove a
safety meeting was held before work begins.
It may seem like a lot to ask for, but New York is seeking to become a national example
after two deadly crane collapses in Manhattan killed nine people this year.
This year's spate of deadly accidents in New York and other U.S. cities, including Houston,
Miami and Las Vegas, triggered the federal government in September to propose updated crane
regulations for the first time in 40 years.
But New York has introduced more stringent rules governing constructions in addition to
those required by the federal government, including laws that require training for
Tower Crane workers, limit the use of slings
that hold loads, and overhaul licensing requirements for mobile crane operators.
"We have worked closely with industry officials to develop checks and balances that are
making construction sites safer than ever before," city Department of Buildings spokesman
Kate Lindquist said. "There are thousands of construction sites in New York City that are
managed without incident every day, and there is no reason why developers cannot build
safely to avoid any preventable delays."
But the city's construction industry says the rules are difficult to follow, hard to
enforce and often cause costly delays. Contractors say sites are often shut down for days
or weeks for minor violations, like a missing piece of paperwork, and stopping work at a
high-profile site can cost more $100,000 a day.
"In some respects, it's already overkill," said Louis Coletti, president of New York's
Building Trades Employers Association. "You've got new rules and regulations coming out
every day."
In midtown Manhattan, where a crane crashed into a town house on March 15 and killed seven
people, a crane still hasn't returned to the high-rise development site. A crane at the
site of a May 30 collapse that killed two workers was not re-erected until September.
Work stopped at both sites for months, and the latter site was ordered to stop again a week
ago because of a missing permit.
Coletti said contractors have received orders from multiple inspectors with conflicting
interpretations of building codes, and finding an inspector to lift an order can be as
challenging as fixing the violation.
Contractors are most up in arms over a requirement for engineers or manufacturers to
certify plans to raise
Tower Cranes. They
say professionals would be unlikely to approve plans for work they can't supervise.
Alfred G. Gerosa, executive director of the Cement League, whose members often contract out
crane work, said in September that the rule could "shut down the entire
Tower Crane industry in the city."
Frank Bardonaro, president of a suburban Philadelphia crane rental company and head of the
Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association's crane safety task force, called New York's
rules "unenforceable."
"Are you going to test every bolt, nut, bracing?" he asked.
The city maintains the regulations are standard across the construction industry and are
necessary to ensure safety.新华网
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