Stopped using catwalks after that flip near Port Arthur

Was running a 12 inch cutter on a Friday afternoon. Bottom dropped out. Whole damn ladder pitched sideways. No warning. Just the bar swingin and me hangin on. Boss says it was a soft spot in the spoil bank. I say it was bad luck and bad weather. Ever had a close call on a swing ladder? What do you look for now?

3 comments

3 Comments

sarah_hart29d ago

Sometimes a man's gut tells him more than any rod poking in the mud ever could.

faith_carter29d agoTop Commenter

Did you check the bank conditions before you set up, or did you just assume it was solid like @taraanderson said?

taraanderson29d ago

Hear me out but maybe you're BLAMING the wrong thing here. Spoil banks shift ALL the time and a good operator reads the ground before setting the ladder. If you just threw it down without checking the bank condition that's on you not the weather. I've run cutters in hurricane rain and never had a flip because I take time to probe the bank with a rod or watch for water seepage patterns. Soft spots don't just appear out of nowhere they come from previous washouts or bad compaction and you should have caught that. Bad luck is what people say when they skip the basic steps and get surprised by stuff that was OBVIOUS all along.