Mobile cranes are one of the most widely operated pieces of equipment on a construction site requiring companies to train and educate their employees on safe practices at a job site.  The most serious accidents involving cranes are the result of inadequate planning and unsafe use of the equipment, leading to instability and overturning. Mr. David Duerr will explain the steps necessary to preparing the soil at the site prior to a job, how a mobile crane imposes loads on its supporting surface and how those loads change during the performance of a lift. He will also review how mats disperse the crane’s load and how the underlying soil responds.

Take one hour to learn the preparation needed to ensure a safe foundation prior to a mobile crane arrival. Engineers, managers, operators and supervisors will gain valuable insight on planning process and physics of the load’s impact on soil during a lift.

David Duerr, P.E. is president of 2DM Associates, Inc., a consulting engineering firm in Houston that specializes in providing engineering and technical services to the heavy lifting and transportation industry.  He entered the industry in 1974 in the employ of Hoffman International, Inc. and has since worked for VSL Corporation, Williams Crane & Rigging, Inc., and McDermott International, Inc.  Mr. Duerr founded 2DM Associates in 1986.

Over the years, the firm has provided engineering services for a wide variety of lifting and transportation projects in industries as diverse as power generation, manufacturing, petrochemicals, medicine, the space program, and high-energy physics research. Mr. Duerr is currently vice chair of the ASME BTH Standards Committee, Design of Below-the-Hook Lifting Devices, a member of the ASME B30.1 (Jacks, Industrial Rollers, Air Casters & Hydraulic Gantries) and B30.20 (Below-the-Hook Lifting Devices) Subcommittees, an alternate on the ASME B30 Main Committee and in 2004 served on the SC&RA Telescopic Hydraulic Gantry Task Force.  In 2012, Mr. Duerr was awarded the ASME Safety Codes and Standards medal for his work on the BTH Committee since its inception.

Mr. Duerr holds a bachelor's degree in architectural engineering, a master's degree in civil engineering, and is a licensed professional engineer in sixteen states. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Automotive Engineers, and the American Council of Engineering Companies. He is listed in a number of biographical references, including Who's Who in America and Who's Who in Science and Engineering.  Mr. Duerr has published numerous papers on heavy lift engineering and transportation engineering in industry magazines and professional journals, has given talks at the SC&RA Crane & Rigging Workshop, the Crane & Hoist Conference & Exhibition and the Construction Safety Conference and Exhibition, and has presented lectures on lift planning and engineering at the University of Houston and the University of Wisconsin.

For questions contact Jillian Williams, jwilliams@scranet.org or call (703)-698-0291 x580.

Source: SC&RA