Research on the shear capacity of posttensioned, precast crane beams after more than 50 years of exploitation is presented in the paper. The tests simulated an emergency situation with the loss of one or two anchorages of the prestressing tendons. Due to the possible varying location of the concentrated force on the crane beams, tests were carried out for different shear span-to-depth ratios. The paper mainly presents experimental tests’ results. Studies have shown that loss of top cable anchorage does not significantly affect the behaviour of beam, but failure of bottom cable anchorage has a significant effect on reducing its shear capacity. The important conclusion is that even under very adverse emergency conditions the elements do not collapse in a brittle manner.