Large urban tree failure

[Rich Rule]

So David, always wondered this... Imagine the pull test on that tree say last week for eg. The tree comes over under the exerted force and we have a result not dissimilar to the pictures we have seen. Who is responsible? The arb is acting to assess the structural integrity of the tree. Is it just viewed as an accident?

[Mark Bolam]

Pops are short lived weak trees generally, more so ones that have been worked on.

I would never plant a pop near anything I cared about.

[penfold]

I noticed the community worker is also an arboricultural consultant and determined that the tree was over a hundred years old.

[David Humphries]

So David, always wondered this... Imagine the pull test on that tree say last week for eg. The tree comes over under the exerted force and we have a result not dissimilar to the pictures we have seen. Who is responsible? The arb is acting to assess the structural integrity of the tree. Is it just viewed as an accident?

 

 

I don't believe there has been a tree failure during a 'pull test' Rich

(I've just read tonight & also remember from the show case in the shots above)

 

The load placed on the tree is well within tolerance levels, and the test gets stopped before any stress is placed on the individual parts of the tree.

 

the measurements they are looking for (deformation of marginal fibres under the bark) are miniscule.

 

http://www.tree-consult.org/index.php?option=com_joomdoc&task=doc_download&gid=87&Itemid=239

 

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[Tom D]

I take it this one failed with little or no wind?

 

No construction work near root plate?

 

 

How practical would a pull test be on a tree like that? even if you evacuate the school and neighbouring houses, shift all the cars and any street furniture, if you pull it over you have a lot of damage and mess on your hands.

[likeitorlumpit]

Thats a big GULP.

Did the climber who did the work feel anything was wrong. No need for scientific 'pull' tests. Just gut feeling.

Working on trees in urban environments is fraught with danger. Anyone able to should now press for increasing budgets to counteract this.

[treequip]

Thats a big GULP.

Did the climber who did the work feel anything was wrong. No need for scientific 'pull' tests. Just gut feeling.

Working on trees in urban environments is fraught with danger. Anyone able to should now press for increasing budgets to counteract this.

 

Assuming he did, all he can do is report it back.

 

In my experience nothing much happens, you wonder why then stop bothering.

[sloth]

This incident has reminded me of the Kew Gardens death last year. Has anyone heard anymore about it? Is an investigation ongoing, what has been said of their management plan/system? When I visited recently I was surprised at the amount of bracing in use, never seen so much! I was pleasantly surprised by how on the whole it's not that visible, even before the leaves are out.

[David Humphries]

This incident has reminded me of the Kew Gardens death last year. Has anyone heard anymore about it? Is an investigation ongoing, what has been said of their management plan/system? When I visited recently I was surprised at the amount of bracing in use, never seen so much! I was pleasantly surprised by how on the whole it's not that visible, even before the leaves are out.

 

 

The HSE investigated the scene at the time and the coroner adjourned the inquest to a later unfixed date. That was as of September last year.

 

 

 

I hadn't heard/read anything on it since then, although just found this from Dealga O'Callaghan from the ACAS discussion forum on Linkedin from last year.....

 

"Head of the Arboretum Tony Kirkham said the 200-year-old tree had been checked since the incident.

 

Mr Kirkham, who has been at Kew for 34 years, said: “We have done a thorough check of the branch and there is no defect, no sign of any decay – nothing there that would have made us change anything.

 

“It’s one of our oldest trees at Kew and gets a lot of attention in terms of management and in terms of keeping it healthy.”

 

Mr Kirkham said weather conditions through the summer could have stressed the tree, causing the branch to come off."

 

Not sure where Mr O'Callaghans source is from.

 

 

 

 

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Edited June 10, 2013 by David Humphries
update

[sloth]

Thanks for the info