The 210-foot-tall crane that
toppled fell across 108th Avenue Northeast,
a major downtown north-south thoroughfare.
The street wasn't expected to be opened
until Saturday.
At least three downtown
buildings had severe structural damage: the
Plaza 305 office building, the Civica Office
Commons and the Pinnacle BellCentre, a
mixture of stores on the ground level and
luxury apartments above.
The crane operator, who
was not identified, was trapped in the
control cab of the yellow crane nearly 30
feet off the ground. Firefighters used a
ladder to reach him, and he walked from the
scene, according to fire officials. Bellevue
Fire Department spokesman Lt. Bruce Kroon
said the operator "rode the crane down"
nearly 200 feet.
John Ecker, compliance
manager for Labor and Industries, said it
could take up to six months to determine the
cause of the collapse, with the process
including interviewing the crane operator,
contractors and company officials.
Ecker said it was his
understanding the crane had been in place
about two months.
The crane was located at
the site of Tower 333, a 20-story office
building under construction at the corner of
Northeast Fourth Street and 108th Avenue
Northeast. The crane was anchored in a pit
about five stories deep.
In a region where construction cranes
have been sprouting like giant metal mushrooms, the
deadly collapse of a 210-foot crane in Bellevue last
week has many residents looking up with trepidation.
Some 60 tower cranes were scheduled
for projects in Seattle this year, more than triple the
average number.
But as Thursday's accident has
revealed, the giant machines and the people who operate
them are largely unregulated in Washington.
Inspections are generally left up to
contractors themselves. And while beauticians in
Washington must be licensed, operators who wield 300-ton
cranes require no certification.
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