Swinging a 12 ton beam in a 25 mph gust in Houston last Tuesday

I was on a job putting up steel for a new warehouse off I-10. Got a 12 ton beam up about 60 feet and a sudden gust damn near twisted me into the neighboring building. Had to set it down fast but not too fast or the cable would've snapped. Dropped it on some dirt near the slab and it stuck in the mud pretty good. Took us 45 minutes to get it clean and re-rig. Anyone else ever deal with wind that caught you off guard mid swing?

2 comments

2 Comments

gray_schmidt827d ago

Man that sounds wild. It's funny how we plan for wind direction but not sudden gusts, kind of like how I can check the weather all day and still get soaked walking to my car because the rain just changes its mind last second. Glad you set it down safe though, that's the part that matters.

the_jenny27d agoMost Upvoted

Rain doesn't care about your weather app. It has its own schedule and it thinks it's funny. That's the thing about forecasting anything, from storms to people. You can plan all you want but the universe just laughs. At least you learned the lesson without losing anything important. Next time maybe just bring an umbrella and accept your fate.