On July 14, 1999, a massive crane named Big Blue collapsed while lifting a section of the retractable roof for the new Miller Park baseball stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The accident killed three iron workers and injured five others.
The crane, which was lifting a section of the stadium roof weighing over 450 tons, collapsed due to several environmental factors, including wind speeds of 20-21 mph with gusts up to 26-27 mph, and the crane sinking about a foot into the soil when it initially lifted the roof section earlier that day.
The incident led to significant financial consequences, including over $500,000 in fines and a lawsuit settlement of over $99 million, and delayed the completion of Miller Park by a year.
The collapse also highlighted critical issues in crane safety and management, leading to important lessons for the construction industry.
[ + ] con77
[ - ] con77 5 points 17 hoursJun 14, 2025 15:03:07 ago (+5/-0)
[ + ] Zyklonbeekeeper
[ - ] Zyklonbeekeeper 3 points 16 hoursJun 14, 2025 16:23:08 ago (+3/-0)
Our company took over the crane work.
[ + ] GreenSaint
[ - ] GreenSaint 2 points 16 hoursJun 14, 2025 15:49:17 ago (+2/-0)
Kill me. There’s a lot of safety protocols but man if I died at work I would be pissed. Imagine dying at WORK. Let me die literally anywhere else: I would rather get blown up by some dick head with a bomb in a library than die at work. Imagine you get turned into a ghost and you have to haunt the workplace. Man. Just send me to hell at that point.
[ + ] VitaminSieg
[ - ] VitaminSieg 0 points 11 hoursJun 14, 2025 21:32:37 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] LeoFranksGhost
[ - ] LeoFranksGhost 1 point 14 hoursJun 14, 2025 17:42:09 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] JoesLegHair
[ - ] JoesLegHair 0 points 13 hoursJun 14, 2025 19:13:15 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] dirtywhiteboy
[ - ] dirtywhiteboy [op] 2 points 13 hoursJun 14, 2025 19:18:34 ago (+2/-0)
[ + ] Trope
[ - ] Trope 0 points 17 hoursJun 14, 2025 15:03:42 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] JustALover
[ - ] JustALover -1 points 17 hoursJun 14, 2025 15:34:16 ago (+1/-2)