Work proceeds on courthouse after crane collapse

The Ministry of Labour has allowed work to resume on 90 per cent of the Thunder Bay courthouse construction project following the crash Monday of part of a 90-tonne construction crane on the roof at the east end of the building.

The part of the building that was struck has been ruled off limits to workers for now.

Labour ministry spokesman Matt Blajer says thedeveloper has been issued several orders, which include evaluatingthe condition of the ground beneath the crane.

"There's another stop-work order on the area until they provide a soil-testing compaction report and a plan on ground stability for the placement of the crane outrigger pads," Blajer said.

The ministry has inspectors and engineers on site.

It has issued these orders:

• Do not disturb the accident scene.
• Submit documents such as crane records, certificate of qualification for the crane operator, drawings, information on any material that the crane was lifting.
• Provide a structural engineering report on the stability of the building where the crane landed.

Blajer says the company is meeting all the conditions.

A spokeswoman for thedeveloper on the project, The Plenary Group, said Tuesday she did not yet not have a report on the extent of the damage to the building.

Vice-President Olivia MacAngus said the company will be able to assess the impact of the accident after the ministry completes its investigation and clears the site.

"[We will see] what happened and what if any are the impacts on construction, and also review, at that point, safety procedures," she said.

The construction of the courthouse is supposed to be finished toward the end of the year.

MacAngus says the company will make any necessary changes to its procedures after it has a full understanding of what happened.

No one was injured when the crane tipped over, causing the boom to land on the building.