Accident disrupts utilities service to 2,000

Once the crane started freewheeling, Larry Boxdorfer knew it was going over.

Boxdorfer was backing the crane with a 100-foot boom when it started pitching backward.

"It got overbalanced on the incline," said Boxdorfer. "I knew then it was going to flip. I'm just thankful that no traffic was passing at the time and it didn't hit anybody."

The boom fell across Chestnut Street -- a block-long section of Highway 177 -- striking a utility pole and downing electrical, telephone and cable television wires.

More than 2,000 electric customers were without power for a short while, said AmerenUE spokesman Doug Groesbeck.

The crane boom hit a transmission line and we had to wire around it," said Groesbeck. "Only a few customers were without power for more than half an hour, and they were restored within a couple of hours."

Boxdorfer escaped injury. He had to wait inside the crane until power to the area was turned off before the crane could be stabilized. He waited for more than hour.

Once the crane was stabilized, Cape Girardeau firefighter Mike Allen hoisted a ladder and helped open the door to the crane. Boxdorfer left the crane under his own power.

Boxdorfer is a crane operator for Robinson Construction Co. of Perryville, Mo., which is working on a sewer project for the city of Cape Girardeau. The project calls for four new lift stations and a force main along the Mississippi River.

Lift stations pump sewer water uphill so it can flow into the main sewer system. The new stations will replace existing ones that needed rehabilitating after the floods of 1993 and 1995. Force mains are pipes connected to the lift stations that carry the water pumped from the lift stations to a point where it can flow into the sewer system.

"We should have a new crane in Tuesday or Wednesday," said Mike Schremp, superintendent on the job at Olive and Chestnut. "We won't know the condition of the crane involved in the accident for a while."

"That crane probably won't be put back into use," said Chris Cissell, overall project manager for Robinson.

Work on the project is expected to be completed by the end of the year, said Cissell.

The crane was uprighted about 11:35 a.m., said Steve Niswonger of the Cape Gir-ardeau Fire Department. The fire and police departments were on the scene for more than three hours until the crane was uprighted. AmerenUE workers had to replace three utility poles.

rowen@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 133