Confined Space Rescue In A Crane

[ProgressiveRescue]

Hello All..
I took a tour yesterday of a cargo container crane looking at the various confined spaces to help train the employees on the hazards associated with themas well as to answer some management questions as to if they were permitted or non permitted spaces. I came across this space which is located in one of the vertical legs of the crane. This picture was taken from toe top of the leg which is about 150' high. There are multiple landings on the pictured ladder all in aprox 20'-25' segments. At the present time there is no way to connect to an overhead anchor as well as zero room for a tripod. I wanted to throw this out there because for us rigging junkies it's a good space to play around with.
What are your thoughts?
Mike Donahue

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[rescuedylan]

Have you thought about skip rigging? It appears from the pictures that the ladders are staggered on the way down to each landing. If this is true the whole way down, rig your anchor/ MA under the landing above as you reach each landing change over to a second haul system that would be in place. This is close to what cavers run into while doing work in some of their areas. After each change over have the system that has just been freed up brought up to the next change over area. It's a bit of leap froging but it allows for no sharp edges for the haul line to run over and also allows for the haul team to work with gravity pulling down into the shaft.

Intrested to see what others come up with for this. Do you have any other pics of what is above the top landing?

[FiremanLyman]

Assume you want to go down? From the top of the leg it would be too easy to get the person out onto the base and lower him from there, huh?

Inside the leg? Use a little ladder on the landing (say an attic ladder*) butt the feet againt one floor/wall corner and lean it onto the opposite wall. Rig off a rung. Be a quick solution. First one that pops in my mind.

* I know that attic ladders are usually rated under 300 lbs. Oh well.

[jdcalamia]

Bridge an opening above (however many levels you need to)with 4x4's, 6x6's or 4" or better rigid steel conduit. Tensionless hitches with some padding and you're ready to go! Once loaded the lumber won't move. The pipe on the other hand may require some bracing.

[jdcalamia]

If you're on the top level a little giant may work as a high point. Not sure what the ratings on this are.

[ProgressiveRescue]

I added a few more pics to the original post showing the overhead area. Space is limited so the little giant idea probably wont work. One of the thoughts I had as a way to achieve an overhead anchor was to lash a 4x4 to the top of the handrails you see in the 3rd picture. I love the skip rigging idea, you caver's always have a nice trick up your sleeve. My biggest concern would be getting them out not the ride up. I'm thinking a directional pulley attached to the 4x4 taking your MAS out of the egress pint would work. You couldn't connect your MAS directly to the overhead because the stroke of the system wouldn't allow the victim to exit the shaft. As I type this I'm thinking instead of the 4x4 let's do a tensionless wrap with a butterfly in the middle as a connection point. I think this method will be easier, safer, and quicker. This is a good topic...my thoughts are flowing now......
Mike

[jdcalamia]

Not sure I understand the layout past the shaft itself. Is the only point of egress all the way up? Any pics of this to relate to the rest of the shaft? I get the directional at the 4x4, is there any place to anchor the MAS on a horizontal plane after the COD?

[jdcalamia]

Mike,

I just re-read your last post. The only issue I see with the tensionless wrap/butterfly is keeping it from slipping under load and ending up on the bottom of those handrails vs the top. From what I can see you need the anchor to stay on the top of the handrails to get completely out of the shaft. Not sure how I'd keep this from happening

[rescuedylan]

Ahh, closed hand rails. Thats where I would go for the up and out. I would have to agree with skipping the 4x4 and just got straight to the lashing and working right off of that. It looks like a real tight spot and minimizing the gear at the top is going to be key.

Looks like a great job! let us know what you all come up with and take some pics.

[ProgressiveRescue]

Mike,

I just re-read your last post. The only issue I see with the tensionless wrap/butterfly is keeping it from slipping under load and ending up on the bottom of those handrails vs the top. From what I can see you need the anchor to stay on the top of the handrails to get completely out of the shaft. Not sure how I'd keep this from happening

That's a good point....Maybe if we found the middle of the rope let's say we're using a 20-25' piece and evenly wrapped the bottom handrails say five or six times so once complete were left with the running ends of the rope on either side of the hand rails. Next take each running end and wrap it a few times around the top of each hand rail on its respected side then drop them down and with an eight bite create a more or less hybrid load sharing anchor. My thought behind this is the first set of wraps on the bottom will take some of the load force and as the top wraps also take the force they'll tighten on the top rail hopefully minimizing any movement.
Thoughts?
Mike

[jdcalamia]

I follow your train of though here, but I can't help but to keep looking at the angle that the rope would be coming out of the shaft and how it would be pulling on the COD attached to the top of the rails. Maybe in addition to your load sharing hybrid, wrap the top rails with a series of tight wraps around both rails and then fraps (lashing style) to tighten it up just as a backup to create a stop of sorts. Maybe overkill, but I just don't like the angle between the top of the rails and the top of the shaft opening as well as the chance that the COD could slip down the rails. I'm sure that would create a decent shock load as well as really put the screws to you when you have to muscle the guy out of the shaft. Then either another COD maybe off the electrical conduit to keep the rope in the center of the shaft or padding the hell out of the edges. OK, that is definitely overkill, and maybe not doable, but some thoughts I got going through my dome! I'm thinking belay off the bottom rails to minimize the fall factor/distance.

[ProgressiveRescue]

Ha! I was kicking around the idea of wrapping and frapping the top as well John. I also had the idea of wrapping and tensioning the top like you would for a picket system.....Still thinking in between runs tonight on how I would keep the tension in the rope. In a picket system the picket keeps it in place, here we have nothing. Heading on another run....
Mike

[rescuedylan]

I know that this idea will most likely not be used for this training ( and I fully understand ), but this is where the Death Grip hitch comes into its own. If you tie it using two 8 or 9mm cords with a figure eight /nine to connect both of them it would hold just as bomber as the hand rails. Granted I cant give you any numbers for how much the hitch can hold before it fails, but I have used it for heavy pulls in the past as an anchor just to play with it and it worked great every time with no slip or break. Just a thought fr when all else fails.

[jdcalamia]

How bout this...once you twist the windlass, take the end of the picket that you would be pushing down on and throw a clove hitch around it, then anchor it to the bottom of the rails or something else close to the ground. This should keep the tension in the system since you are only twisting the picket one way. If you go with a butterfly as the connection point in the actual anchor it should keep the COD pulley low enough that the windlass won't be in the way.

[ProgressiveRescue]

I know that this idea will most likely not be used for this training ( and I fully understand ), but this is where the Death Grip hitch comes into its own. If you tie it using two 8 or 9mm cords with a figure eight /nine to connect both of them it would hold just as bomber as the hand rails. Granted I cant give you any numbers for how much the hitch can hold before it fails, but I have used it for heavy pulls in the past as an anchor just to play with it and it worked great every time with no slip or break. Just a thought fr when all else fails.

Dylan,
I've never used that knot and I saw the Pic you posted (I think it was you). Do you think that the small diameter of the handrail would make that application difficult?
Mike