A year of change for use of cranes after Bellevue fatality

A year after a 210-foot crane collapsed into a Bellevue apartment building, killing a man inside and damaging a neighboring building on the way down, the landscape — physically and legally — looks very different.

The Tower 333 Building — the 108th Avenue Northeast project from which the crane fell — is nearly finished; the final black-glass panels are being put in place. The Pinnacle BellCentre apartments across the street, where 31-year-old Microsoft attorney Matthew Ammon was killed, have been repaired as has Plaza 305, where the northeast corner of the building was ripped off as the crane fell.

On the legal front, effects of the tragedy continue to unfold:

• In May, a state investigation concluded the collapse was caused by a flawed engineering design, and the state has fined the general contractor and the engineering firm involved. The companies are appealing.

• A new state law, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2010, will require licensing for crane operators and certification for crane installations. Before the accident, neither was required.

• A lawsuit against the building contractor and engineering firm, filed by Ammon's family, seeks both answers about what happened and damages in an unspecified amount for Ammon's death.

Accident and aftermath

The collapse took place after working hours on the evening of Nov. 16, 2006, when most offices were closed and rush-hour traffic had thinned. The crane fell to the southeast, with its horizontal boom coming to rest on the Pinnacle BellCentre, 308 10th Ave. N.E., where it killed Ammons in his top-floor unit.

Immediately after the collapse, a flurry of crane inspections found three other Bellevue cranes with structural cracks, and one of them was dismantled. The others were repaired and left in service.

Debris from the fallen crane remained in place while investigators tried to determine what had gone wrong. Then it was removed in phases. A new crane was put up in January.

On May 11, the state Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) concluded that the collapse resulted from flawed engineering of the crane base, which led to metal fatigue. In an unusual arrangement, the crane had been attached to steel I-beams in an underground parking garage left over from an earlier, unfinished construction project on the site.

After the crane was cut up and removed, its replacement was attached to a concrete pad on the ground, the traditional way to anchor a construction crane.

The state imposed $14,800 in fines on two firms involved in the building construction: Lease Crutcher Lewis, the general contractor, and Magnusson Klemencic Associates, a professional engineering firm. The fines have been appealed, with hearing dates set May 5 and 6 in Seattle.

Some answers about what led to the collapse may be provided through a lawsuit filed in October by Ammon's parents.

Kathleen Gaberson and Larry Ammon argue that Lease Crutcher Lewis and Magnusson Klemencic had a duty to safely install the crane and that their son died because of negligence. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. The defendant firms deny the accusations, and the case is to go to trial in March 2009.

The Pacific Continental Bank, forced to vacate its quarters on the south edge of the accident site for about 10 months, reoccupied its old offices in September.

Expedia, an Internet travel-service company, has announced it has leased most of the space in the new 20-story, 410,000-square-foot Tower 333 Building. About 1,700 employees are expected to move in during 2008.

Legislative response

During the legislative session earlier this year, lawmakers in Olympia examined issues raised by the crane accident and passed a law in hopes of preventing future tragedies.

When it takes effect, the law will require crane operators to pass written and practical examinations to obtain a license, and to have a designated number of hours of experience with the type of crane being operated. Operators will be required to pass a substance-abuse test performed by a recognized laboratory and to be recertified every five years.

Other provisions of the law specify how cranes themselves will be certified. Inspectors, employed by crane companies, will be required to certify that cranes are safe and to submit to the state inspection worksheets and proof of load testing and other tests within 10 days of their evaluations.

Dan McMurdie, an L&I program manager overseeing implementation of the new law, said an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 cranes and crane operators will be covered by the law.

Implementing the law will include accrediting about 200 crane inspectors employed by crane companies and hiring 11 new staff members at L&I, including seven field inspectors, to develop, implement and monitor the crane-safety program.

Whether the new law would have prevented the Bellevue collapse is unknown, partly because no explanation ever has been provided about the decision to allow fastening the Tower 333 crane to the parking structure.

"I believe they [the new law's provisions] would have" prevented the collapse, McMurdie said, adding that he could not comment further because of the pending litigation.

"I truly believe it will save lives," said Randy Loomans, director of government affairs for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302.

"That [garage installation] would have never passed muster," she said.

The Bellevue crane operator, who was not at fault, came through the accident physically intact but has not returned to work because of the trauma of the crash, according to Loomans.

"Most people would never have survived a 210-foot fall," she said. "It's just tragic, but we have to be grateful it wasn't rush hour in Bellevue."

Peyton Whitely: 206-464-2259 or pwhitely@seattletimes.com.