Worker Tells Court He Lacked Math to Measure Crane Part (2 workers killed in 2008)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/nyregion/before-crane-fell-worker-couldnt-measure-key-part.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

By RUSS BUETTNER
Published: March 13, 2012

The employee responsible for finding a replacement part for a tower crane that ultimately collapsed on the Upper East Side in 2008, killing two workers, testified on Tuesday about his own difficulty with the basic math of measuring key components.

Tibor Varganyi, whose formal education ended in the ninth grade in Hungary, struggled how to measure the distance between the roughly 30 bolt holes around a piece of the turntable assembly. He decided to use a ruler.

When the Chinese company making the part said his measurements did not add up, Mr. Varganyi, 65, sought to improve his proficiency at measuring.

“I bought a protractor,” Mr. Varganyi said. “I thought it was a better measurement.”

FULL story at link.