Abstract: Employees #1 through #3 were working in a 4 ft deep trench that ran along the edge of a roadway. The north edge of the trench abutted a concrete gutter. The south edge was covered by the roadway blacktop and the spoil pile was stacked on the blacktop at the edge of the trench wall. Traffic was moving on the blacktop about 10 ft from the trench. A backhoe was working on the trench approximately 40 to 50 ft to the east when it evidently hit the concrete gutter, resulting in a chain reaction that caused the full length of the gutter to fall into the trench. All three employees were struck by the gutter and falling soil, but only Employee #1 required hospitalization. The top 2 ft of the trench wall was composed of sand and clay, and the bottom 2 ft was a mixture of sand and approximately 6 to 8 in. diameter drain rock. The soil was wet from recent rains.