July 26, 2022
A mobile crane tipped over while loading wood at what will be a new building at the corner of Dorchester Avenue and East Cottage Street on Tuesday morning. Seth Daniel photo
A mobile crane extending out more than 70 feet was moving some wooden trusses along the second floor of building at a construction site at East Cottage Street Tuesday morning when it tipped over onto the second level. There were no injuries reported.
The crane, owned by BC Crane Corp., was parked on the East Cottage Street side of the site at the corner of Dorchester Avenue. The Fire Department responded to the incident with an apparatus and a Technical Rescue Team. Deputy Fire Chief Michael Hocking said the crane tipped over around 10:15 a.m., and noted that “all workers were evacuated and there were thankfully no injuries. Some people are very, very lucky today. There weren’t a lot of people working underneath the crane operations today, so it was a good day in terms of that.”
Hocking said the clean-up would likely take the rest of the day on Tuesday, with the crane arm probably being cut into pieces. “You don’t come across this much, but with all the construction in Boston now,” he said, “we’re starting to see more of these kinds of things,” he said.
Some members of the New England Carpenter’s Union were on site to observe the aftermath of the accident. Some unions staged pickets at the job site earlier this year because the owners had hired non-union labor for the project. New England Carpenter’s Union spokesperson Burt Durant did not return a call from the Reporter.
The project was undertaken prior to the pandemic, then paused for some time during that period before restarting this spring. Owners Adam Sarbaugh and Peter McGee are constructing a new building with 38 units of housing, as well as a new market and a restaurant space on the first floor. They were not immediately available for comment about this incident.
![Subscribe to the Dorchester Reporter](/images/gotyoucovered.jpg)