The load shifted on me during a tight landing in downtown Seattle

I was setting a steel beam on a 12th floor roof deck last Tuesday, and the wind kicked up right as I started my final descent. The load started spinning off center, maybe 15 degrees to the left as I was coming down between two existing columns. I had to abort the landing and swing out wide to stabilize it, which cost me a good 20 minutes of re-rigging with taglines. My signalman was yelling up at me about the fire escape below, and I could hear the beam scraping against the parapet wall. It all worked out in the end, but my heart was pounding for a solid minute after. Anyone else ever have a load do a slow spin like that during a tight set?

3 comments

3 Comments

kelly3851mo agoTop Commenter

Have you tried using a tagline on the tail end of the load before you start the final descent? I had a similar spin on a beam once, and I found that having a guy on the ground hold a light line on the back corner helped me straighten it out as I came down. It took a bit of practice to coordinate, but it stopped the spinning before it got bad.

wilson.joseph1mo agoMost Upvoted

Holy cow, a guy on the ground just holding a string stopped the spinning?

michael6691mo ago

Holy cow, that tagline idea is good but I bet nobody's thinking about the WEATHER. If you've got even a light breeze coming across that beam at an angle, the tagline can actually make things WORSE because the wind catches the line and starts whipping the load around like a kite tail. I've seen guys try this on a windy day and they ended up fighting the tagline more than the spin. You gotta check the wind direction first and make sure your ground guy is positioned so the line stays tight but doesn't get pushed around. Otherwise you're just adding another variable to the chaos.