TULSA — The Tulsa District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in conjunction with a team of U.S. Navy divers has successfully retrieved a crane and other equipment from the bottom of Kaw Lake.

— The Tulsa District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in conjunction with a team of U.S. Navy divers has successfully retrieved a crane and other equipment from the bottom of Kaw Lake.

The crane, a stop log and a lifting device were lost January 6, 2011 when the crane fell off of the dam while being used for work being done on a tainter gate. The crane operator got out uninjured before the apparatus fell into the lake.

A team of 10 U.S. Navy divers based out of Washington State arrived in Oklahoma Sunday, April 24 and did a reconnaissance dive Monday, April 25 to determine the location of the sunken equipment. Divers worked throughout the past two weeks to attach inflatable bags to the crane, stop log, and lifting device to raise them to the lake’s surface and then used cables to pull them to shore.

The Corps deemed it environmentally and economically necessary to retrieve the equipment from the lake if possible. It is unknown what damage could be caused by not retrieving the crane from the lake. The stop log and lifting device are unique to Kaw and will be placed back into service after a thorough inspection.

The crane was at gate eight using the lifting device to move the curved stop log to gate seven when it fell over the side and came to rest 60 feet below in the lake, upside down. The cause of the accident is under investigation.