Abseil accident

[Clive G]

Caption says: Onde est? o erro ??

Portuguese translation: Where is the error ??

Not subscribing to Facebook, but having got past the 'Sign In' button, I then found that the video wasn't available because I've had to disable Flash Player to help my Firefox browser run without stalling and locking up all the time . . .

So, the lack of information connected with the posting, when the video viewpoint (from the still frame I saw) seems to suggest close proximity to the abseiling activity, makes you wonder just what is going on here . . .

 

[royfellows]

Off topic but IT is becoming a nuisance

I use Chrome but get past having to 'agree to something' by using an old Internet Explorer to search and then pasting over the URLs into Chrome. Problem is YouTube, I have a machine with a 32 bit installation of Win7 that works without me opening an account.

They are all out to get you, and its no longer a sign of paranoia

 

[HardenClimber3]

I think, a fraction before Simon's still, you can see the rope break where it crosses the concrete edge.
It is a thin rope, demonstrating how easy it is to 'cut' a rope under tension.

 

[cavemanmike]

if you look at 04- 05 seconds you can seethe rope/cord shap at the rub point on the concrete bridge and the rest of the rope travels down with him. pause and play the clip really fast and you can see it snap at the bridge

 

[caving_fox]

if you look at 04- 05 seconds you can seethe rope/cord shap at the rub point on the concrete bridge and the rest of the rope travels down with him. pause and play the clip really fast and you can see it snap at the bridge

This ^ fail at the bridge rub point.

 

[traff]

Yep definitely the rub point.

 

[royfellows]

Yep definitely the rub point.

Thanks for this big time, it does put a different perspective on things.

I am now wondering if there was 'something' embedded in the concrete as I struggle to see an ordinary concrete edge doing this.

 

[Alex]

But it looks to have broken 10ft down on that image? (half way between him and the obvious edge), unless it rubbed on something we could not see.

 

[Mark Wright]

If you are quick enough with your play and pause finger it is very clearly the lower concrete edge that caused the rope to break.

I've worked on lots of concrete bridges and buildings and the transition point from vertical to horizontal is usually very sharp indeed. Any edges that can be seen by simply walking past are usually nicely rounded and no real cause for concern. The sharp edge is caused by either the shuttering or formwork used in the building process.

I worked on the Queen Elizabeth (Dartford) Bridge when it was being built and the top edges of the main piers were razor sharp.

Mark

 

[Simon Wilson]

I now think you're right about where it broke. However, the concrete edge was not the main cause of the accident. The main cause of the accident was that he was using some sort of cord instead of a rope. He might just have got away with it on this occasion if it was not running over the bridge edge, he might have got away with it if he had known how to use the descender and he probably would have got away with it if he was using SRT rope.

 

[Maj]

I beg to differ.

This is the point where the rope/string has just failed.
The rope still reaching as far as the chap who is still in the abseil position probably before he has even registered what has happened himself. You can see the rope is now slack with no load on it below the bridge and it is is just starting to recoil. 

However the actual point of failure shouldn't distract from the other potential points of failures, inc rope rub on the concrete bridge, inappropriate rope and/or descender etc. etc..
Maj.

Doubting what I've just said myself now !

 

[Simon Wilson]

Do you mean you beg to differ on where the cord broke or the cause of the accident?

If you mean the former then I'm actually uncertain. I've looked at all the frames, I think the resolution is not good enough for me to be certain and I've changed my mind several times. In the frame you showed there appears to be something happening at the edge of the bridge. I think there is a possibility that it was frayed on the edge of the bridge but the final break took place at the descender.

The evidence for my first conclusion was that the short bit of cord above the edge in the frame you posted is not as long as the snaking bit in my frame. So the snaking bit in my frame must be the bit of cord between the edge and the descender.

I hope that makes sense.

 

[tony from suffolk]

I worked on the Queen Elizabeth (Dartford) Bridge when it was being built and the top edges of the main piers were razor sharp.

Mark

In that case, you must remember me. I was the chap in the blue Audi who used to commute from Kent to Essex every morning when you were up on that bridge. Weren't you the chap in the hard hat?

 

[ptpeaty]

Didn't something similar to this happen at GG back in the 70s?  Chap abseiling on polyprop, takes a breather, hot descender melts rope.

Yes. A party from Swansea University were abseiling GG main shaft using polypropylene rope. I think figure of eight descenders were being used. One person had abbed down ok and the next down suffered rope failure where it was rubbing over the pitch head. Sadly, the individual did not survive the fall. This was a salutary lesson for everyone as SRT was very much in its infancy then and there was a lot of ignorance on what was acceptable with regards kit, ropes etc.In those days ropes had a couple of anchors at the pitch head, no rebelays and only bits of carpet as protection where it was thought necessary.

 

[Maj]

Yes Simon, it was the point of break I was begging to differ on, but now I'm not so sure - again.

It's the length of recoil rope that made me think point of break at descender.
But there is something happening at the bridge rub point too.

But as I said earlier

However the actual point of failure shouldn't distract from the other potential points of failures, inc rope rub on the concrete bridge, inappropriate rope and/or descender etc. etc..

Maj.

 

[Peter Burgess]

Maybe it's just me, but I just want to know if the bloke is OK. I tried translating the FB comments and there is much the same sort of debate there. Very sad for the chap.

 

[Simon Wilson]

Yes Simon, it was the point of break I was begging to differ on, but now I'm not so sure - again.

It's the length of recoil rope that made me think point of break at descender.
But there is something happening at the bridge rub point too.

But as I said earlier

However the actual point of failure shouldn't distract from the other potential points of failures, inc rope rub on the concrete bridge, inappropriate rope and/or descender etc. etc..

Maj.

Yes. I'm now feel quite certain it broke at the descender. It's hard to understand why it would break there though.

 

[Wayland Smith]

In this frame it is clear that the rope breaks on the bottom edge of the bridge.
In previous frames you can make out a slight kink in the rope at the rub point.

The lower section of rope springs down out of shot.
In later frames the upper section coils in the air.

 

[Oceanrower]

Please bear in mind that the family of this person may well see this thread and that we don't know whether the person survived or not.

Some of the wild speculation earlier may well be very distressing for them.

 

[traff]

Following on from my previous statement agreeing with rope rub on the bridge lower edge I too am not so sure.

I've ripped the video and extracted the event frame by frame. Whilst the quality isn't great I think this tells a different picture:

To me the rope fails at the decender, the blur at the bridge edge just being 'whip' as the load is taken off?