I wrote here about the wire rope breaking or pulling out of its anchor on one of the tower cranes outside our apartment.  Five days later and still nothing in the local news so we are reassured that nobody was injured or killed.

Yesterday a new rope was fitted by using what remained of the old one to haul the new one up over the counterbalance weights and straight on to the drum.  From here it was walked out to the end of the jib, being threaded as necessary along the way and then on to the trolley before being unwound to the ground.  The crane was rotated 180 degrees for this, maximizing the amount of cable that could be paid out by increasing the distance from where the rope first touched the ground.

From here the rope was threaded through the wheels on the lifting block before being manually hauled up the tower, landing stage by landing stage to minimise the weight being lifted rather than doing it in one go. The rope was then threaded through the remaining trolley wheel and terminated on the jib.

About five hours’ work from start to finish including thorough greasing of the rope, after which the crane was back in action.

Fancy a new job rigging tower cranes?

Steve