Inspection Detail

Inspection: 951543.015 - Boston Bridge & Steel, Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Boston South Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 6:30 p.m. on December 9, 2013 an employee and a coworker were cleaning and prepping two large steel bridge arches for paint. The two bridge arches were separated in half, creating four arch pieces. These pieces were approximately 45-feet long, 12.5-inches wide, 24-inches deep at the crown, and weighed approximately 12,030 pounds. The four arches were set up in an upright position with two overhead cranes in the middle of a shop work area, approximately 4 to 5 feet apart. As set up, the height at the top crown was approximately 66 inches. The arches were set up with two pieces of 3-inch angle iron under each end to raise them off the ground and each arch was braced at the crown by diagonal 2 by 4 or 2 by 2 wooden braces. As these braces were not secured in place, the employee and the coworker had moved the braces to move around and to paint under them. The employee had just finished blowing off the arches with compressed air in preparation for painting when a portion of a bridge arch fell on him. The employee was killed when the top head was sheared off between the falling arch and adjacent arch. The employees entire body was then crushed by a steel arch.

Keywords: Crushing, Head, Steel, Struck By