GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Infrastructure Corporation (PIC) has confirmed a crawler crane accident that occurred at the casting yard site on Paya Terubong Street on Friday night.
PIC said the contractor had scheduled the installation of beam segments for the final three segments along the Thean Teik Highway on that night.
To date, a total of 35 beams have been installed for the viaduct structure across the Thean Teik Highway since early 2023.
It said the lifting and loading process of the three beam segments began at about 8.30pm, with two of the segments successfully lifted and loaded onto the trailer.
"However, during the lifting of the third beam segment, one of the crawler cranes experienced a mechanical failure, leading to the breakage of a component at the tip of the crane boom. As a result, parts of the crane fell into an adjacent food court car park area.
"The incident caused minor damage to two parked vehicles," it said today.
PIC is a special-purpose vehicle set up by the Penang government to spearhead the implementation of the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP).
PIC said, following the incident, the subcontractor promptly secured the area for safety purposes. It said the vehicle owners had been contacted and had agreed to compensation.
"The incident was reported to the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) Penang at 10.35pm.
"To prevent a recurrence of such incidents, mitigation and safety measures have been immediately implemented, including increasing inspection frequency. The crane machinery checklist will now be conducted weekly, as opposed to the previous monthly schedule.
"Also, perimeter safety will be ensured, whereby before any activities, the adjacent areas involving public access will be fully secured and closed off from any activities," it added.
The bypass from the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway to Air Itam is one of the projects under the Penang Transport Master Plan. Once completed, the 5.7km toll-free road connecting Bandar Baharu Air Itam and the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway will shorten travel time from 40 minutes to around five minutes.
In May this year, the Penang government declared its readiness to take stringent measures against the developer of Package Two of the bypass project, stretching from the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway to Air Itam, should it cause disturbances to the public.