Chelyabinsk Region’s division of Rostechnadzor (the state environmental, technological, and nuclear security watchdog) inspected a number of KB-473 tower cranes that were used by Legion-C and Legion in order to find the possible flaws and prevent their destruction, the spokesperson for Rostechnadzor’s Ural Federal District division reports.

The inspections were brought about by a number of industrial accidents: on May 17, 2008, a KB-473 tower crane’s lower arm collapsed, leaving one worker badly injured. The accidents occurred at the intersection of Malyshev St and Lunacharskiy St, right in the center of Yekaterinburg. The next day, another crane’s lower arm collapsed in Bilimbaevskaya St. The crane belonged to Atomstroycomplex.

Rostechnadzor reports both cranes were manufactured by Rzhev crane plant and were still in their operating life period.

A number of ad hoc committees were set up to look into the accidents; besides, Ural Federal District division of Rostechnadzor inspected all the KB-474 and KB-473 cranes made by this plant and found internal defects in the lower arms of all of these cranes.

‘As for the tower cranes used by Legion-C and Legion, some unacceptable defects of weld seams were found in the arms of the cranes. These defects should have been rectified before the launch. The case has been placed with the court,’ the spokesperson for Rostechnadzor’s Ural Federal District division says.