Amidst industry speculation, facts are emerging about possible causes of accident.
Although accident investigators are continuing to piece together the circumstances surrounding the tragic accident that killed STC BV’s Ad Swanink, some initial facts are beginning to emerge.
It appears that a long-running dispute between manufacturer/modifier Rusch and the machine’s owner Euro Demolition BV led to the owner collecting the machine from Rusch more than a week ago to have further machine modifications and testing undertaken by STC BV. Quite what those additional modifications involved is not known at this time.
However, indications suggest that prior to the accident, the machine’s safety system had been disconnected, none of the boom shafts had been safeguarded, and the track body –which should be secured by 24 bolts – had been secured in just the four corners and the bolts in these areas sheared off during the accident.
Also sheared off were the outriggers that support the ballast block although, according to initial findings, it appears that this was a straight line failure with no sign of previous wear or damage between the mainframe and the ballast block. It is this three-part ballast block that fell from the machine intact, killing Ad Swanink.
It is, of course, far too early to speculate about what operation the machine was performing when this catastrophic and tragic failure occurred. But our sources suggest that the disconnection of the safety system and too few bolts securing the track body combined with the boom being raised too abruptly MAY have triggered the failure.
