The 2019 Dorian crane collapse in downtown Halifax is far from being relegated to the annals of history despite the collapse having been attributed to a faulty weld.
An investigation by the safety branch of the provincial Labour Department determined that the tower crane toppled during the high winds of post-tropical storm Dorian on Sept. 6, 2019, as a result of a weld failure and that the crane owner and operator had met the applicable legislative and regulatory requirements to prevent such a collapse from occurring.
Maddy Carter, a lawyer with the Wagners firm in Halifax that specializes in class actions and personal injury claims, said it is the firm’s view that the 12-page Labour Department report provided only a “narrow view” of the whole picture of the Brenton Street crane debacle.
“The department’s report is focused on regulatory compliance only,” said Carter, whose firm is representing area businesses and residents in a class action civil suit against the companies that owned, operated and manufactured the 70-tonne tower crane.
“We know that a critical piece in the ability of a tower crane to withstand a wind event is to ensure that the crane can freely turn in the wind, rather than resist the wind,” Carter said. “This is when it’s in the weather-vaning mode. Although the department’s report says that the crane was placed in weather-vaning mode by computer and confirmed it would vane properly, we question that this presents the whole picture. There is other information suggesting that the weather-vaning mode was not on, which will have to be reconciled for purposes of establishing liability in the civil action.”
Carter said the law firm has been contacted by about two dozen businesses and residents who were evacuated from the area.
“We don’t expect that this number accounts for everybody who’s affected and interested in proceeding with the class action, because they do not need to come forward and identify themselves at the pre-certification stage of a class action,” Carter said. “So, there’s reason to believe there are others waiting in the background to participate later.”
The notice of action originally filed in Nova Scotia Supreme Court listed Thornbloom Boutique, a home decor and furniture store operating on South Park Street, as the representative plaintiff.
Contacted last week, Thornbloom owners Debbie Morgan and Elaine Shortt, who operate another outlet in the Sunny Side Mall, did not provide an estimate of financial loss from the crane collapse that shut down their South Park street store for eight weeks.
“The ramifications from the crane falling are still ongoing,” Morgan said, referring any further comment to the law firm.
Halifax-based site developers W.M. Fares Architects Inc., and W.M. Fares and Associates, Lead Structural Framework Ltd., of Moncton, the owner, operator and installer of the crane, and Manitowwoc Company Inc., based in Milwaukee, Wis, the designer of the Manitowac model Potain 8520Ps crane, were named as defendants in the class action.
“Our view is that it will be for a court to determine the liability of the owner and operator and the other named defendants to the businesses and individuals who were so significantly impacted by the crane collapse,” Carter said.
No one was hurt in the collapse.
Labour minister Lena Metlege Diab said the investigation into the collapse of the crane, erected at 1452 Brenton St,. on Jan. 7, 2019, was one of the “most technical and complex” the department has conducted.
The report concluded that n further regulatory action will be taken with regards to the collapse of the crane but the report called for the Labour Department to meet with the tower crane’s owner and operators to review the investigation findings and for an immediate cleaning and visual inspection of welds on the masts and booms of all tower cranes in Nova Scotia.
The inspections will include any necessary testing on welds and any repairs of any deficiencies found.
Carter said although the Labour Department’s report said the owner and operator had met the provincial and Canadian safety standards and regulatory requirements “it should be said, the province’s report seems to be clear that it’ll be looking to embark upon improvements to safety measures for tower cranes in the province and the country.”
Carter said the timeline of the class action should come into better view in the next couple of months.
“The question of what the overall losses were to all those within the affected group of businesses and residents is a complicated one, particularly in the case of the businesses,” Carter said. “We can’t give a precise number for the total losses before having received that number from accounting experts, but the information we have presently leads us to believe it’s into the millions of dollars.”
The collapsed crane came to rest on the Olympus Building, an adjacent 13-storey building under construction in the 1400 block of South Park Street, significantly damaging the top three levels of that building.
It collapsed toward the northwest and struck the top corner and a balcony deck on the northeast corner of The Trillium Building located at 1445 South Park St., causing damage to that building.
Counterweights from the tower crane fell to the ground, landing on the east side of South Park, causing significant damage to the sidewalk and street and resulting in several businesses and residents being evacuated from the area.
Work to safely remove the crane and debris from the Olympus building was completed on Nov. 4.
A spokeswoman for the Transportation Department, which bore the $2-million cost of removing the crane and cleaning up the site in a declared emergency situation, said the province will not at this time be initiating a claim for the cost.
A structural engineer’s review of the tower crane equipment found that tower cranes are generally designed to sustain winds of 150 to 160 kilometres per hour. Wind speeds in the downtown Halifax area at the time of the crane collapse were 97 km/h sustained with gusts of 107 km/h.
