December 11 - This year's World Crane and Transport Summit (WCTS) in Miami brought together 260 delegates to hear from transport and lifting professionals.
Keynote speaker Alan Barnhart (pictured), ceo of Barnhart Crane & Rigging, opened the conference.
Following Barnhart's address, Jim Wiethorn of Haag Engineering outlined the results of an analysis of more than 500 crane accidents in North America. One finding was that 51 out of 147 fatalities were of individuals not directly involved in the crane operation. Wiethorn said this illustrated the important role that site supervisors had in managing lifting operations.
Day two of the conference began with a project report detailing Fagioli's involvement in the recovery of the cruise ship Costa Concordia from rocks off the coast of Italy. The event came to a close with a report on a world record load-out project, presented by Rodney Rather, vice president of ALE.
The conference's official programme partner was the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA); while other supporters included Terex, Manitowoc, Global Cranes, Goldhofer, ITI, Modulift and the TII Group, among others.
The next WCTS will be held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands from November 4-5, 2015, with Jan Kleijn, ceo of Mammoet, as the keynote speaker.
