By Sarah Robinson

Published at 11:10, Thursday, 09 August 2012

THREE hours were spent lifting a trapped excavator out of a pit at a demolition site in Whitehaven on Monday afternoon.

pit stop: The tracked demolition vehicle at the former bus depot

The machine, weighing 25 tonnes, had fallen into an inspection pit at the former bus depot which is being demolished.

Raymond Lawson, of Lawsons Haulage and Crane Services at Cockermouth, was called out to work with site contractors to lift the hydraulic excavator by crane. He said: “It was a mammoth task.”

The driver of the machine had been moving rubble on the site at the time. It is believed he misjudged the width of the concrete floor and the pit and the vehicle fell sideways into the pit. The driver was unhurt in the accident.

Mr Lawson said: “The track of the machine was wedged underneath the edge of the pit, so we couldn’t just lift it straight up. We couldn’t get near it because the ground is mostly pits, so we couldn’t back right up to the machine and move it that way.

“We had to lift it using our crane and slinger and work with the driver of the machine who was also trying to move it. It was a big task and it was very tricky.”

Demolition work has been carried out at the depot, by contractors, to make way for a new complex of shops and flats. Planning consent was granted for these proposals nearly three years ago.

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk