Accident Report Detail

Accident Summary Nr: 200601508 - Three employees drown when concrete form collapses into lake

Accident Summary Nr: 200601508 -- Report ID: 0625400 -- Event Date: 08/09/2000
Inspection Nr	Date Opened	SIC	NAICS	Establishment Name
303415970	08/09/2000	1629	0	M W Builders, Inc.

Abstract: Employees #1 through #3 were supervising the pouring of concrete into a steel mold for the construction of a 72 in. diameter column intended to support a 24 in. pipe from a pumping station on Stillhouse Hollow Lake, near Belton, TX. All three were tied off to the top of the form. Suddenly, there was a loud "pop" as the bottom of the 50 ft tall form blew out. The force knocked the form off the caisson, which was approximately 8 ft above the surface of the lake. Bolts holding the two parts of the form together sheared and the form fell over into the lake, taking all three workers with it. Employees #1 through #3 died of asphyxia by drowning. Employee #1's body was recovered within a few hours; the bodies of Employees #2 and #3 were found by divers after the form was lifted up onto a barge. All of the concrete mix had run out into the lake during and after the accident. The pour had taken about two hours but the concrete mix in the bottom of the form was like soup, suggesting that too much plasticizer had been added at the batch plant.

Keywords: CONCRETE FORM WORK, COLLAPSE, CONSTRUCTION, FALL, DROWN, CONCRETE, OVERTURN, WATER

Accident Details
End Use		Project Type		Project Cost	Stories	Non-building Height	Fatality
Other heavy construction		New project or new addition		$20,000,000 and over		60	X

Employee Details
Employee #	Inspection Nr	Degree of Injury	Nature of Injury	Occupation	Construction
1	303415970	Fatality	Other	Occupation not reported	Distance of Fall: feet Worker Height Above Ground/Floor: feet Cause: Erection of coffer dams, caissons Fatality Cause: Drown, non-lethal fall
2	303415970	Fatality	Other	Occupation not reported	Distance of Fall: feet Worker Height Above Ground/Floor: feet Cause: Erection of coffer dams, caissons Fatality Cause: Drown, non-lethal fall
3	303415970	Fatality	Other	Occupation not reported	Distance of Fall: feet Worker Height Above Ground/Floor: feet Cause: Erection of coffer dams, caissons Fatality Cause: Drown, non-lethal fall

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