ABOUT 15 tonnes of metal is hanging precariously from the top of an unfinished condominium at Ardmore Park after part of a crane collapsed late on Wednesday night.

No one was hurt and no property damaged when the crane's hooking block - used to lift construction material up the 36-storey project - crashed to the ground at about 11.20pm on Wednesday. It occurred about the same time as an unusually strong wind storm.

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The rest of the crane, secured by steel cables to a carriage, is dangling about 150m above the street.

The site was unoccupied when the incident happened. Residents of the neighbouring Abelia Condominium were evacuated and a security cordon was put in place, keeping residents out for the time being.

The incident caused a massive traffic jam at Stevens Road, Anderson Road and other roads leading in and out of Ardmore Park Drive on Thursday morning.

Anderson Road was reopened at about 6pm after Ministry of Manpower (MOM) officers gave instructions to workers to secure the crane's dangling boom to its carriage.

The road was closed again when a mobile crane, meant to recover the damaged one, was erected through the night.

All work at the Wheelock Properties (Singapore) site has been halted. Ardmore Park Drive could stay closed for a few more days.

The Manpower Ministry is working with the contractor, Poh Lian Construction, to ensure the safe removal of the damaged crane.

Poh Lian's building site manager, who only wanted to be known as Mr Seah, said that the strong gust of wind on Wednesday could have caused the boom of the brand-new crane to topple.

Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.