The main lift was to be carried out by the crane on the right, capable
of lifting 300 tonnes, with the chassis being steadied by the crane on
the left, rated at 200 tonnes. Once started, the lift itself was over
fairly quickly, and the Quinto was back on the wheels by 8am.
They let me round the side to catch some more pictures, and you can see
how solidly the Quinto is made - the only damage I could see was a
broken light, even the windows were fine, and Homer Simpson was still hanging on. The shed came off rather worse, and the counterweight left a big crater
in the playground.
The children were all very excited, especially when a small bear was
spotted in the rigging!
Only it didn't end quite so well! They couldn't start the engine, which
meant that they couldn't get the stabilisers out, so they couldn't fold
the arm down, and there was some debate about what they could do next
without power for the hydraulics. They finally got the engine started
about 2pm (just now) and have almost folded down the arm on the Quinto.
Updated 8pm: Once they had sorted the engine out, the thing just drove away! OK, so they didn't just drive it all the way home, they drove it onto a low-loader, Health & Safety probably not going to risk anything until they had checked it over! Oliver the traction engine showed up and hooted (with laughter?) but I didn't get a picture, but you can see him here.
(I meant to post this earlier, but was busy until lunchtime. Also, I'll post the 21st Century Global Summit info later)
Category: Personal