Construction Crane Topples onto Pitt Campus Science Building

Tue July 07, 2015
Crane Equipment Guide

PITTSBURGH (AP) _ Construction crews were working to straighten a truck-mounted crane which toppled sideways and came to rest against a science building on the University of Pittsburgh campus.

Classes weren’t in session due to the holiday weekend and nobody was reported injured in the construction accident about 9:30 a.m. Friday.

Crews were using other equipment to stop the crane from leaning against Langley Hall which, along with nearby Crawford and Clapp halls, house Pitt’s Departments of Biological Sciences and Neuroscience. All three buildings were closed as a precaution until further notice.

Workers say the crane was being used for work on Ruskin Hall, a dormitory, when it toppled onto Langley.

A Pitt spokesman didn’t immediately return an email seeking additional information.

Local television station WTAE in Pittsburgh was live on the scene to cover the collapse: