Investigators look over the scene where a crane toppled Tuesday morning during a drill to close the levee at Riverwalk Augusta near the Radisson Riverfront Augusta Hotel and the Morris Museum of Art. The crane operator was hospitalized in good condition. JONATHAN ERNST/STAFF

Crane crashes at Riverwalk site

Web posted April 28, 1999

By Jessica Rinck and Robert Pavey
Staff Writers

A routine drill to test Augusta's ability to protect downtown from floods went awry Tuesday when a crane hired to lift logs into openings in the levee tipped over and injured the operator.

Tommy Proctor, an operator for Anthony Cranes, was thrown from the machine around 8:30 a.m. after his crane tipped while lowering a wood and metal beam at Riverwalk Augusta and 10th Street, authorities said.

The beams are kept near openings in the levee at Eighth Street, 10th Street, the Sixth Street railroad crossing, Prep Phillips Drive and East Boundary in case openings in the Savannah River levee need to be closed.

Mr. Proctor was taken to Medical College of Georgia Hospital, where a spokeswoman said he was in good condition late Tuesday.

Fire Chief Ronnie Few (center) looks on as rescue workers secure Anthony Cranes operator Tommy Proctor on a stretcher for transport to the hospital. Proctor was injured Tuesday morning when the crane he was operating during a drill to close the levee at the Riverwalk toppled, sending him out the front of his cabin. JONATHAN ERNST/STAFF

Dennis Rattie, a Richmond County Public Works Department employee, was beneath the beam being lowered when the crane began to topple.

``I saw the crane picking up, and I ran,'' he said. Mr. Rattie was uninjured.

Aside from the accident at the 10th Street levee opening, crews successfully closed the other openings, although the process took longer than expected.

The drill is required under a permit the city received from the Army Corps of Engineers to breach the levee when riverwalk was built, said Mike Greene, assistant public works director.

A foreman for Anthony Cranes talks on his cell phone during the aftermath of one of the company's cranes toppling during a drill with the city to close the levee at the Riverwalk.JONATHAN ERNST/STAFF

Federal authorities await the city's report on the drill before deciding whether to ask that the process be repeated, said Jim Parker, a Corps of Engineers spokesman.

``Augusta is required to do this every few years,'' he said. ``There's a protocol for them to be able to close the openings. They have to show they can do it efficiently.''

City officials have conducted similar drills in the past without incident, Mr. Parker said. ``Their track record has been good. This will help them refine their procedures.''

The earthen levee protects downtown from the flood-prone Savannah River, which often overflowed into the city before Thurmond Dam was built in the 1940s and 1950s.

Although the levee could not protect downtown in the unlikely event of a complete failure at Thurmond Dam, the structure has a long track record of keeping back rainfall-related floods, Mr. Parker said.

The giant logs, called stopgaps, are designed to be hoisted into place, forming a barrier against rising water. It was while hoisting one such log that Tuesday's mishap occurred.

The crane's boom fell onto the bridge at riverwalk, which appeared to be undamaged but will require additional inspections to be certain, said Doug Cheek, Richmond County engineer.

City officials said the accident will be investigated by Anthony Cranes officials, who were uncertain Tuesday what caused the mishap.

``I've never seen anything like this,'' said Bill Cherry, a representative for Anthony Cranes. ``We don't know how it happened.''

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration was not asked to send an investigator, but likely will conduct a follow-up inquiry after Anthony Cranes determines the cause of the accident, said Jonathon Worrell, OSHA's assistant area director.

Anthony Cranes has had other problems in Augusta, Mr. Worrell said. In August 1997, the company was cited by OSHA and fined $7,000 after a 12,200-pound concrete mold fell on a construction worker and killed him, Mr. Worrell said.

In 1992, the company was cited in Savannah and penalized $1,400; and in 1991, the company was cited in Port Wentworth, Ga., and penalized $4,000, Mr. Worrell said.

Jessica Rinck and Robert Pavey can be reached at (706) 724-0851 or newsroom@augustachronicle.com.