Inspection Detail

Inspection: 123293334 - O & G Industries, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Bridgeport Area Office

Investigation Summary

Employees #1 and #2 were part of a construction crew rebuilding the Lake Saltonstall Bridge in East Haven, CT. Six concrete piers installed by George Tomasso Construction were found by the state's engineer to have shifted approximately 8 in. to the west, and he stopped the job until the problem was corrected. Tomasso Construction filed for bankruptcy and its replacement, O & G Industries, Inc., determined that the original concrete piers had to be removed and temporary steel ones put in place until new concrete piers could be installed. On the day of the accident, a construction crew consisting of a crane operator, a signalman/rigger, a carpenter/welder foreman, and two carpenter/welders was building one of the temporary piers on the west side of the #3 pier. A 50 ton P & H wheel-mounted, latticework boom crane, #1-03-051, was set up on the approximately 29 ft wide north wooden trestle. The trestle was also used to store material and place equipment, including a 3,568 lb, 30 ft 6 in. long steel I-beam. During the process of trying to move and install this beam, it rolled over and fell from the trestle, striking Employees #1 and #2. Both sustained injuries that required hospitalization. (Note: Text was missing from the original report.)

Keywords: BEAM, STEEL BEAM, UNSECURED, LOAD SHIFT, MOBILE CRANE, CONSTRUCTION, STRUCK BY, BRIDGE, FALLING OBJECT, UNSTABLE POSITION