Crane Accident Expert Testimony
2017
I have been retained as a consultant in three cases from the same law firm in Georgia. The first case involves injury to an individual from a port crane dropping a load. The second case involves injury to an individual when a crane got into a power line. The electric current in the ground did not touch the crane or load. I have been deposed in the first case but the second matter is still in the early stages.
2017
I was retained as an expert regarding a Tower Crane accident in Atlantic City. The incident occurred while employees were working during a storm with lightning. Lightning struck a tower crane resulting in one death and injuries to two other employees. I worked with several law firms representing the various Plaintiffs involved in the incident.
January 2015
Traveled to Maryland on January 14, 2015 to find the cause of the collapse of a luffing Tower Crane with a 180’ main boom and 180’ luffing jib. No one was injured in the accident. I provided a written investigative report.
2015
I appeared on London Al Jazeera TV concerning the crane accident at Mecca Grand Mosque giving my opinion on why it happened.
November 2014
Traveled to Pascagoula, MS to investigate an accident that occured when several cranes were being used to move a section of a boat being built at the facility. Two of the cranes - one a 16000 Manitowoc - collapsed. Read Article
May 2014
May 1, 2014 - Flew to Philadelphia to investigate an overhead Crane accident where the Crane operator got caught in a pinch point.
September 2013
Traveled to Ft. Lauderdale, FL on Sept 3, 2014 to investigate a Truck Crane that tipped over while moving an Auger. One killed in the accident. Read Article
June 2013
I took a flight to Texas to examine a fatal crane accident involving a boom hoist cable that failed.
April 2013
April 7, 2013 - I traveled to Russellville, Arkansas to investigate an accident at the Arkansas Nuclear One plant. A man died and three were injured when a Gantry crane dropped an estimated 500 tons. Read Article
April 10, 2013 - Flew to New York to examine the tower crane parts involved in an accident to help determine the cause of the incident.
October 2012
When Hurricane Sandy left a damaged crane dangling from a 90-story construction project at 157 West 57th Street in New York City, national, regional and local media turned to Tom Barth for his insight into how the mechanism had snapped, and why it hadn't been more securely attached. Tom appeared on CNN, The Today Show, ABC-7 New York, The Huffington Post and NY1, including appearances with Wolf Blitzer, Piers Morgan and Anderson Cooper. You can view that media coverage at the following links:
April 2012
A recent federal court appearance wraps up a long accident investigation involving a fatal crane accident in Michigan. Over a 2-year period, I read at least a thousand pages of depositions, reviewed crane manuals and visited the site of the accident. I gave two depositions myself and appeared in Federal court as an expert witness in April.
April 4, 2012: New York, NY
I traveled to New York to investigate a crane accident that killed one man and injured four others. The initial newspaper report noted that the boom fell when the boom hoist cable broke on the Manitowoc 4100 crane. The crane was working on a subway extension project at the time of the accident.
February 19, 2012: Los Angeles, CA
I flew to Los Angeles to investigate a crane accident that resulted in severe injuries to a worker. It was reported that workers were disassembling the lattice boom on a 165-ton truck crane when it fell.
February 14, 2012: Papua, New Guinea
I just returned from Papua, New Guinea where I've been performing crane inspections, load testing, consulting, and training crane operators, riggers and signal persons on a large construction project. I've made three trips since I started the project in 2010, spending 5-10 days on each visit. There's still work to be done and I'll be scheduling another trip soon. Here's what I see when arriving at work in the morning. What a sight!
Gulf of Mexico
I'm often called to the Gulf of Mexico to work on the oil platforms. On my most recent trip, I performed crane inspections, reviewed the oil platform's crane safety program operations and submitted a written evaluation. I worked with the crane operators in reviewing specific crane regulations and created plans to improve the off loading of the supply boats. My experience in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska was invaluable—we spent a lot of time teaching the operators to "read the water" for safer and more efficent off loading. The tides, currents and winds are always changing, but there's almost always a pattern that will help you anticipate the movements of the supply boats.
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