Bellevue crane sat on base with "very unusual design"

The construction crane that toppled in downtown Bellevue on Thursday sat on a base with a "very unusual design," according to an official with a Tukwila company that erected the crane for the general contractor.

It was the first time in 13 years in business that Northwest Tower Crane Service has installed a crane on steel beams instead of a concrete foundation that is normally used, said Tamara Hardy, Northwest's safety director.

State investigators are studying the construction of the custom-made base, which held a 210-foot tower crane that collapsed, killing one man and damaging three buildings.

As the investigation continued Monday, Bellevue city officials said the developer of the Tower 333 building, the site of the accident, could restart construction within two weeks.

But the city still must assess damage to the 20-story office project, said Bellevue's deputy director of development services, Michael Brennan. The state Department of Labor and Industries also needs to approve restarting construction.

Regarding the design of the crane that collapsed, Hardy said the most common method of securing cranes is to attach them to bolts buried in a concrete foundation.

"That's about the only way we ever do it," she said, noting that Northwest Tower Crane Service has installed 150 to 250 cranes a year over the past five years — and 300 so far this year.

This crane was secured to four steel beams, configured in an H-pattern, in the parking garage of an office building under construction.

Hardy said the general contractor, Seattle-based Lease Crutcher Lewis, designed the base, with the approval of an outside engineering firm.

Lease Crutcher Lewis President Bill Lewis could not be reached for comment on Monday.

The company designed the crane base on the site of an existing foundation, after a previous developer was unable to continue an earlier project. It was not clear if the previous work forced Lease Crutcher Lewis to come up with a custom design.

Most cranes are connected to a base provided by the crane's manufacturer, Hardy said.

During meetings that preceded construction, Northwest Tower Crane Service's president, David Weber, asked the engineer for Lease Crutcher Lewis for approval of the design, Hardy said.

Dozens of bolts and welds ripped or sheared from the base when the crane collapsed Thursday evening, possibly weakened by high winds last week, a state official said.

Over the next week, state inspectors will visit the 13 other construction sites in Bellevue that have tower cranes, said Elaine Fischer, spokeswoman for the state Department of Labor and Industries. The department wants to make sure contractors are complying with a statewide advisory Friday to inspect all cranes.

Fischer said the department will release no more information on the accident investigation until it is complete, which could take up to six months.

Investigators have interviewed the operator of the crane, Warren Taylor Yeakey, of Tacoma. Ness Crane Services, which employed Yeakey, gave him a drug test after the accident. Fischer said state inspectors would not release the results of the test.

Yeakey, 34, has been convicted of four drug-related crimes in years past. Most recently, in 2000, he pleaded guilty to methamphetamine possession and was sentenced to four months in jail.

Yeakey and his family have declined comment.

With a weekend full of holiday events approaching, downtown Bellevue is slowly returning to normal.

On Monday morning, 108th Avenue Northeast partially reopened, with one northbound lane. The road won't fully open for at least a day or two, after crews clean up the debris around Plaza 305, the most heavily damaged building, city spokesman Tim Waters said.

By Monday afternoon, all of the fallen crane had been cut into pieces and trucked away.

At Tower 333, "the site is being inspected for damage by structural and geotechnical consultants, and our contractor will proceed when the safety of the site, and of the community, can be assured," George Lancaster, vice president of communications for The Texas-based Hines development company, wrote in an e-mail. "While they are grieving now, the Tower 333 team is poised to move forward at the appropriate time."

Damage assessments also were being done at surrounding buildings. BRE Properties, the San Francisco-based owner of the apartment complex where a resident was killed, hoped to have an estimate by today or Wednesday, said Tom Mierzwinski, vice president of corporate communications.

Two units at Pinnacle BellCentre had structural damage, Mierzwinski said, and four units had other damage that prevented them from being occupied. Residents are being put up in local hotels and apartment complexes at BRE's expense, he said. Pinnacle BellCentre has 248 units in all.

Plaza 305 remained uninhabitable Monday after nearly a quarter of it was sheared off in the accident. The three-story building housed Pacific Continental Bank, AppleOne Employment and Intelligent Results, a software company.

Pacific Continental has moved its nine-member Bellevue staff to downtown Seattle. AppleOne, a national staffing agency, is looking for new space in Bellevue, said its Los Angeles real estate broker, David Wash.

"We're waiting to hear from the ownership as to how much damage there is, how long it will take to rebuild, and if, in fact, they'll rebuild," Wash said.

Jeff Foushee, an owner of the building, could not be reached Monday. Efforts to reach Intelligent Results also were unsuccessful.

At Civica Office Commons, offices were damaged at six businesses, but all were back at work Monday, said Michael Bernstein, executive vice president at Brickman Associates, Civica's New York-based owner.

Seattle Times staff reporter Jonathan Martin contributed to this report.

Steve Miletich: 206-464-3302 or smiletich@seattletimes.com