On an average day, the two spans that were destroyed on Sunday morning carried 160,000 vehicles, Mr. Even with fewer cars on a Sunday afternoon, traffic was slow coming off the Bay Bridge into the East Bay, a situation that will no doubt intensify as the workweek begins. With a Monday morning rush hour looming, officials said they were trying to assess the damage as fast as possible. “If you have that kind of heat,” he said, “you’re going to have this kind of reaction. Kempton said the heat from the fireball had most likely melted the steel girders and bolts that supported the concrete roadway. At a noontime press conference held at a toll plaza near the collapse, Mr. He was not the only one wondering how the overpass, which dates to the 1950s, had failed. “And I’m really curious how something this stout could be taken down.” “I have not seen this kind of wreckage before,” Mr. Dozens of people converged near the collapse site to gawk, and rubbernecking drivers on remaining roadways slowed traffic.Īnother onlooker, James Signore, a civil engineer from Oakland, said he had a professional interest in the damage. This time around, the results were not deadly on I-880, but no less arresting to look at. Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco, who visited the site on Sunday, called the collapse “a giant wake-up call to the region” about what may happen in a major temblor. That collapse, which occurred during the evening rush hour, resulted in 41 deaths and more than 100 injuries, as cars on the lower level were crushed. Last June, according to records of the California Office of Spill Prevention and Response, a Sabek tanker truck jackknifed on an Interstate near Vallejo, spilling 4,500 gallons of diesel fuel, which contaminated a creek and vegetation.įor some Bay Area residents, the accident evoked memories of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, which caused the collapse of a mile-long, double-decker section of I-880, near the site of Sunday’s accident. Mosqueda, and the truck’s owner, Sabek Transportation, based in San Francisco. Brown said there was “no indication of impairment of the driver” by drugs or alcohol, but that some legal issues are outstanding for both Mr. Cunningham said the state doesn’t comment on pending lawsuits. ODOT is named in one of two lawsuits charging negligence that was filed on behalf of Carl’s estate. “Even if they want to look at their overall construction processes, they should have released something by now. “Why the state’s report isn’t done is beyond me,” Frye said. While the Augusta, Kentucky, woman believes ODOT and Kokosing were negligent, Frye was satisfied with OSHA’s investigation and said Kokosing at least acknowledged it made a mistake. “But I cry about everyday” said Frye, her voice breaking. Roebling Bridge has been an iconic landmark over the Ohio River. “Brandon and his family will always be in our thoughts and prayers, Householder said.Ĭarl’s mother, Sharon Frye, said the anniversary of her son’s death was very difficult for his family. The Covington-Cincinnati Suspension Bridge Committee (CCSBC) is a citizens. He said Kokosing marked Tuesday’s anniversary of Carl’s death with a company-wide moment of silence. Kokosing spokesman John Householder said that practice is now standard procedure on all company demolition projects. OSHA said the company corrected the violations and has been maintaining an agreement to use a third-party engineering firm to conduct bridge demolition engineering surveys. He said Kokosing continues as a major contractor for the state on that project and others around Ohio. He said there is no timetable for the report to be finished. “I can’t provide any specifics because we haven’t seen the report,” said Cunningham. ODOT spokesman Brian Cunningham said the report may or may not result in any changes. The Columbus-based contractor also completed its internal review last year, with CEO Brian Burgett acknowledging the company made an engineering mistake that may have contributed to the collapse and Carl’s subsequent death.īut the Ohio Department of Transportation, which contracted with Kokosing for the demolition, hasn’t released any details of its ongoing analysis.Ī department spokesman says the report isn’t focused solely on the collapse, but is looking at overall ODOT construction processes. $14,000, citing it for two serious safety violations. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined a few months later that Carl died in a “preventable workplace accident” and fined Kokosing Construction Co. ![]() 19, 2015, collapse during demolition to remove an Interstate 75 ramp bridge just north of downtown Cincinnati killed Brandon Carl, of Augusta, Kentucky. CINCINNATI (AP) - A state analysis of a highway overpass collapse that killed a construction worker in southwestern Ohio has yet to be completed a year later and lawsuits over the accident continue as the man’s family struggles with his loss.
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