Been checking out vids of the storm we have rolling through our area. Came across this one of some construction downtown. The crane appears to have just been allowed to freewheel? I assume that's normal?
Just never thought of how they might weather the storm before.
I've done maintenance on some really large. They look kinda spindly, but when you ad up the area of all the individual spars and cross braces, it totals up to a larger square footage sail, than one would think.
My dad was a dragline operator in central FL for 40+ years. The instruction for hurricanes on the dragline was to release the brakes and let freewheel as needed.
I've been led to believe that it's safer/preferable to let the crane flow with the wind.
Doesn't make it look any less scary, though.
Looks like they are left to weathervane as needed to reduce the load on the tower itself.
Toyman! said:Looks like they are left to weathervane as needed to reduce the load on the tower itself.
Weathervane, that's the word I was looking for.
Thank you for taking what I was trying to say and making it make sense. 
I was thinking weather vane too, but weather vanes point in the direction the wind is blowing while that crane is spinning around. Maybe it's in the eye of the storm.
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