Got stuck on a tower crane alignment for 4 hours - should have been 20 minutes

We had a job in Austin last Tuesday where we were setting a new tower crane on a tight urban site. The slewing ring was off by maybe half an inch and I spent almost half my shift trying to get it perfect with shims and wedges. Turns out the concrete base had a slight bubble in the anchor bolts that I missed on the first check. After jackhammering a tiny chunk out (like 2 inches wide) everything lined right up. I was kicking myself because I walked past that spot three times while checking the template. Has anyone else spent way too long on something simple just because you overlooked one dumb little thing?

2 comments

2 Comments

mark_smith594d ago

Yeah man that hurts. I've done similar stuff more times than I care to count. Spent a whole afternoon fighting with a window frame one time just to realize I had the level sitting on a dried glob of caulk that was throwing it off by a quarter inch. It's like your brain gets locked into one idea of what the problem is and refuses to look at anything else. The worst part is when you walk right past the issue multiple times and it just doesn't click. I think every tradesperson has at least one story like that where you want to just bang your head against the wall after you finally figure it out.

nancy8244d ago

Is your neck still sore from looking down at that spot all those times? Ive been there with a different kind of alignment issue and it just makes you feel so dumb when you finally see it.