Worker hurt at bridge site

A worker at a bridge-reconstruction site in North Annville Township was seriously injured yesterday afternoon when a piece of equipment struck him, a Penn-DOT spokesman said.

The accident happened on the first day workers were at the Clear Spring Road bridge site, Penn-DOT spokesman Greg Penny said.

An employee of Clearwater Construction of Mercer in western Pennsylvania was injured when he was struck by the bucket of a backhoe, Penny said. He was flown by Life Lion helicopter to the Hershey Medical Center. His name and condition were not available last night.

Efforts to reach a Clearwater spokesman were unsuccessful yesterday.

Workers were clearing brush and trees from the site in preparation to replace the bridge over the Quittapahilla Creek, Penny said. The bridge is located about a half-mile north of Route 422.

“Its been a while since I’ve heard of a serious injury in a work zone,” Penny said.

Bellegrove, Annville Union Hose and Palmyra Citizens fire companies, First Aid and Safety Patrol ambulance and fire police were called to Syner and Clear Spring roads near the entrance to the Pennsy Supply quarry shortly before 1:30 p.m.

Clearwater, located in western Pennsylvania, was awarded a $1.286 million contract to replace the bridge. The project is funded with federal and state funds, Penny said.

Penny said PennDOT is not involved with the bridge replacement but has a contract with a private inspector for the project.

Rescue crews help a Clearwater Construction worker who was injured at the Clear Spring Road bridge project site. (Les Stewart / Lebanon Daily News)

By LES STEWART ,Staff Writer : Lebanon Daily News

3 dead : 5 injured at tunnel construction site

Three workers died and five were injured when they were buried in a landslide Monday at a tunnel construction site in the city of Hwaseong, just south of Seoul, police said, according to Yonhap News.

Kwon Tae-won, 55, Choi Jae-mun, 59, and Kim Bok-hoi, 58, were found dead hours after the 7:18 a.m. accident, in which the arch of the tunnel collapsed due to an apparent weakening of the earth caused by recent rains.

Forty people were working at the site, but most of them escaped the heaps of falling rock.

The five injured workers were taken to two nearby hospitals.

Jeon Hyun-young, a civil engineer rescued 35 minutes after the collapse, sustained fractures on his legs.

The tunnel, measuring 50 meters high, 50 meters wide, and 240 meters long, is being dug through a mountain to accommodate a four-lane highway.

Construction worker dies at Taum Sauk

A woman was killed Tuesday while working on a concrete placement as part of the rebuilding project at the Taum Sauk reservoir, which collapsed more than three years ago.Ozark Constructors LLC said the 48-year-old worker was flown to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, where she died. Her name has not been released.Ozark Constructors had been working on the rebuilding project at the AmerenUE-owned reservoir in southeast Missouri. A breach on Dec. 14, 2005, sent a wall of water down a mountain into Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park.

The company said it was making grief counselors available to employees and their families. St. Louis-based AmerenUE said the safety of everyone at the site is the company's top concern.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and co-workers of the construction worker who died as a result of this morning's tragic accident at the Taum Sauk upper reservoir rebuild site," the utility said in its written statement.

AmerenUE said ASI Constructors Inc., a business that specializes in dam construction, and St. Louis-based Fred Weber Inc., a construction company, were venture partners in Ozark Constructors LLC.

Ozark Constructors said it has put in more than 2 million hours of work at the site over 21 months. It declined to release additional information, pending an investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

AmerenUE expects the rebuilt plant at Taum Sauk will begin generating power in the second quarter of 2010, said spokeswoman Susan Gallagher.

by Associated Press

Iron worker killed in construction accident at Mohegan

Mohegan, Conn. Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration joined Mohegan tribal safety officials today to investigate the circumstances of a fatal construction accident Tuesday.

An unidentified iron worker died from injuries sustained in a fall while working on the Mohegan Government and Community Center overlooking Route 2A, said Mohegan Tribal Chief of Staff Chuck Bunnell.The man was taken to the William W. Backus Hospital where he died from his injuries, Bunnell said.Bunnell said co-workers have described the man as a hardworking family man.

“We’re thinking of him and his family right now,” Bunnell said. Terry McEvily, OSHA’s assistant area director, said OSHA officials will conduct and inspection of the work site to ensure it complies with OSHA regulations.

Workers die on China rail project

At least nine workers have died in the collapse of a construction site on the Shanghai-Nanjing railway in eastern China, state media say.Four railway workers are still missing in the accident, which occurred in early morning in Jiangsu province, Xinhua news agency says. Initial reports suggested a gas explosion at a workers' dormitory had caused the collapse.China has ambitious railway plans but a poor safety record for workers. China plans to build more than 12,000km (7,500 miles) of high-speed railway to connect its major cities.New links in China's railway construction programme are part of the economic stimulus plan announced in November.It recently approved a further two-trillion-yuan ($300b, £218b) investment plan for its railway infrastructure over the next two years.It also plans a high-speed network, starting with a line between Beijing and Shanghai.Chinese-designed trains on this route will be capable of speeds up to 380km/h (236mph).

Construction work is steaming ahead on a vast China rail network

Electrician dies in Greene County accident

A 41-year-old man died yesterday after being thrown from the basket of a scissors lift that had been toppled at a construction site in the Poland Mine Site in Dunkard Township, Greene County.

Richard Reed Custer of Eighty Four was taken from the scene to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The accident occurred around 11:20 a.m. when Mr. Custer, a journeyman electrician employed by TP Electric, was working for Lincoln Contracting at a water pumping/filtration plant construction site. He was on a scissors lift working overhead to install brackets when a forklift picking up wooden forms hit the scissors lift, causing it to topple on its side, throwing Mr. Custer from the basket.

An autopsy is scheduled today. State police are investigating.

Crash leaves three dead on I-12 south of Covington

Three people were killed and three others injured Sunday night when a motorist lost control of her car, drove across the median and collided with an SUV on Interstate 12 south of Covington, authorities said.

The crash near the construction site of the Colonial Pinnacle Nord du Lac shopping center between U.S. 190 and Louisiana 21 comes as preliminary work is being done to prevent crossover accidents on I-12 in St. Tammany.

Monica Cohn, 34, of Hammond was driving a Nissan Altima west on I-12 about 7:15 p.m. when she veered from the left lane into the right lane, State Police spokesman Trooper Louis Calato said. Cohn abruptly steered left, sending the car out of control and spinning across the grassy median and into the eastbound lanes, where it was struck by a Chevy Tahoe driven by Vincent Jeanfreau, 33, of Lacombe, Calato said.

The SUV crashed into the car, sending both vehicles spinning off the roadway, Calato said.

"The one thing we don't expect is a vehicle to come across the median into our lane of travel, basically out of nowhere, " Calato said. "It happens so fast and so unexpectedly I don't believe Mr. Jeanfreau could have done anything to avoid this crash."

SUV rolled over, ejecting Jeanfreau's wife, 27-year-old Amanda Jeanfreau, Calato said. She was pronounced dead on the scene. Cohn and her passenger, 47-year-old Hollis Ard Jr. of Gretna, were also pronounced dead at the scene, he said.

Vincent Jeanfreau and two children in the SUV were taken to St. Tammany Parish Hospital near Covington by Acadian Ambulance, Calato said. Vincent Jeanfreau and a 7-year-old passenger had moderate injuries and an 18-month-old passenger had minor injuries, he said.

Crossovers accidents are especially dangerous, Calato said, since they typically result in head-on collisions or direct crashes into the side of a car.

In February, the state Department of Transportation and Development began a $5.2 million project to install cable barriers along the 32 miles of I-12 through St. Tammany. These barriers, made of metal cables strung between posts, stop cars as they travel across the medians and are expected to be completed by the summer.

"This is our first pilot program to install them and see how they work, " said Dustin Annison, a spokesman for the department. "You could see them popping up in different areas of the state."

Medians in St. Tammany, and most of Louisiana, are about 64 feet wide, Annison said. Federal guidelines say barriers are unnecessary for medians wider than 50 feet, he said.

The transportation department, or the private firms it contracts with, will be responsible for maintaining the cable barriers, to ensure they are kept tense enough to prevent accidents, said Brendan Rush, with the department of transportation.

St. Tammany was chosen as one of the first sites for the new barriers after a study of crashes from 2005 showed the parish had the second-highest rate of crossover accidents in the state. The department has already installed barriers on Airline Drive in St. Charles Parish and plans to begin adding them to Interstate 10 in St. James Parish by the end of the year.

In 2007, there were 10 crossover crashes along I-12 in St. Tammany Parish, compared with 9 each in Tangipahoa and Livingston parishes and 1 in East Baton Rouge Parish, according to the state transportation department.

There is no clear reason why St. Tammany sees more crossovers, Annison said.

"Crashes are hard to predict; you often can't find any particular patterns with them, " he said.

by Jeff Adelson, The Times-Picayune

Construction worker dies following crane accident at Total in Port Arthur

A construction worker at Total Petrochemical who was injured Saturday died today at Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont. About 4:15 p.m., the contract worker at the Port Arthur plant site suffered a head injury, when something apparently fell from a crane, according to Pat Avery, Total Port Arthur's human resources and communications manager.

He was flown by helicopter to Christus St. Elizabeth, where he died at 1 p.m. today, Avery said.
"We're still investigating the accident, and we don't know what happened yet," Avery said.

Total has not release the construction worker's name or the construction company who employed him. Avery was unsure whether the man was from Southeast Texas.The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration will investigate the incident, Avery said, while Total operates its own investigation.

"We are deeply saddened by this, and our hearts go out to his family and coworkers," Avery said.
ฺBy Kyle Peveto.

Van crashes into scaffold in Harlem, injuring 6;1 construction worker in critical condition

An out-of-control van jumped a curb in Harlem Saturday morning and slammed into a construction site, knocking down scaffolding and injuring six people.

The aftermath of the scene where an out-of-control van collided with a scaffolding on Lenox Ave. in Harlem on Saturday.

One of the hardhats working on the scaffolding was critically injured and had to be dug out from a pile of twisted metal and shattered wood, witnesses said."I heard the collision and then I came out and saw the crash," a construction worker who was across the street. "We pulled the scaffolding off and that's when we saw him," said Consella, 33. "He was blue ... he was bleeding from the mouth and head."

The van that jumped the curb. There were 6 people injured in the crash,including a construction worker who was buried in the rubble.

The 15 feet of scaffolding came tumbling down when the van suddenly roared up onto the sidewalk on Lenox Ave. at 11:15 a.m., officials said."He jumped the sidewalk and then hit the scaffolding," said Kereem Alghazeli, who owns the Xquisite Deli next door to the construction site. "It sounded like the whole building fell down."The van had parked around the corner on W. 136th St. and investigators believe its accelerator got stuck when the driver tried to pull into traffic, officials said.The speeding van did not stop after it hit the scaffolding and instead barreled down the block before finally coming to a rest on W. 137th St., witnesses said."I was scared he was going to crash into more people," said Alghazeli.Four other people were hurt when the scaffolding collapsed though their injuries are considered minor, officials said.Sidewalk vendor Robert Bennett, 65, was selling clothes in front of the pharmacy when he was trapped by the falling debris.

"It could've been worse," said his wife Sabrina Bennett, who expressed gratitude to firefighters who pulled her husband to safety. "Thank you...God bless you."

The seriously injured construction worker was treated at Harlem Hospital across the street from the accident site. He is expected to survive, officials said.The driver of the van was taken away on a stretcher and it's unclear if he will be charged with any wrongdoing. His name was not released.The scaffolding, erected alongside the Health and Beauty Pharmacy, was cited last month by the Department of Buildings for not meeting safety code standards, officials said.

BY Benjamin Fractenberg and Jonathan Lemire DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Construction Accident Injures 11 In Harlem Pizzeria

Five people were hospitalized after a wall at a Harlem construction site fell into a next-door pizzeria Friday.

As workers poured concrete into an exterior wall at 270 West 123rd Street shortly after 3 p.m., the wall became so heavy that it fall into a next-door restaurant named Pizzeria 123.

Six customers and five pizzeria workers had minor injuries, but only five people sought medical treatment at St. Luke's Hospital.

Fire officials said a much bigger accident was averted.

"Luckily it wasn't heavily occupied at the time," said FDNY Deputy Chief Michael Mullins. "Could have been later in the day, could have had a lot of children involved. There were only approximately six or seven in the store at the time."

A 10-feet by 15-feet hole was left at the site of impact, and crews worked Friday evening to remove stray bricks and concrete.

"Where the hole is currently, that's a bearing wall," said Manhattan Councilwoman Inez Dickens. "So they have to be sure the support is there for the remaining floors of the building."

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer called for a full investigation of what went wrong at the construction site.

Department of Buildings officials were looking into the structural integrity of both buildings Friday, and issued a stop work order at the construction site.