More than three months after the catastrophic collapse of a tower crane at a Kelowna, B.C., construction site claimed the lives of five people, two new cranes will be erected at the deadly crash site on Tuesday.
Mission Group, the developer behind the Bernard Block project, released a statement Friday stating that it is working with Emry Formworks Inc. to develop a safety plan for the” careful and diligent assembly of two new tower cranes.”
The cranes are required for the construction and completion of the Block office tower and Bertram condo tower, the company said.
On July 12, a crane attached to a high-rise building under construction collapsed in downtown Kelowna while being dismantled, killing four construction workers and an employee in a neighbouring building.
The construction workers who lost their lives in the workplace tragedy were later identified by friends and family as Jared Zook, Cailen Vilness and brothers Patrick and Eric Stemmer.
Brad Zawislak was the fifth victim identified after the crane collapsed on an adjacent building. Zawislak’s body was pulled from the rubble in the following days.
The deadly crane collapse prompted a myriad of investigations, including probes launched by the BC Coroners Service, RCMP and WorkSafeBC, and raised questions about the safety of assembling and dismantling tower cranes near populated areas.
Mission Group said the new tower cranes at the site will be assembled and serviced by Morwest Crane & Services Ltd.
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It described Morwest as “a leader in the field and one of the most trusted crane service companies in North America.”
The safety plan includes “comprehensive procedures” for crane assembly and dismantling, including operator qualifications and safety
training, the developer said.
Supervisors and constructions safety officers will be on-site to ensure everything goes smoothly, and the cranes will be erected at a time of day that ensures “minimal impact” to the public, although the exact time was not released.
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