UPDATE: Victims Identified in Fatal Construction Accident

Update on Thursday at 9:30 a.m.

The Associated Press identified the names of the victims in the construction accident. Here's the AP report:

BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The name of a worker killed in a Northeast Tennessee bridge construction accident has been released.

The Sullivan County Sheriff's Office said Frangel Garcia was
killed Wednesday when a column of steel reinforcing bar collapsed,
plunging him into the Holston River near Boone Dam.

Sheriff's Deputy Joshua Ferguson told the Johnson City Press
Garcia's body was recovered by divers around 11 a.m., more than an
hour after the accident.

Maria Lima of Morristown and Jessis Dominguez of Rogersville
were taken to hospitals for injuries they suffered in the collapse.

The bridge is being built to replace a steel girder span at the
Sullivan-Washington county line on state Rt. 75.

The contractor is Simpson Construction Co. of Cleveland, Tenn.

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Updated at midnight:

BY MAC McLEAN
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

KINGSPORT, Tenn. – A construction accident that killed one crew member and sent two others to the hospital Wednesday is the latest in a string of mishaps that has plagued a bridge replacement project in Sullivan County.
About 10 a.m. Wednesday, three crew members working on a bridge pylon were knocked into the South Fork of the Holston River near State Route 75 and the Boone Lake Dam by a collapsing rebar frame.
Workers on the job site fished two of the workers, a man and a woman, out of the water and got them medical attention. They could not save a second man, who was pronounced dead two hours later, after county rescue divers recovered his body from the river.
Tennessee Department of Transportation officials declined to identify the three construction workers involved in the accident, but said they all worked for the Simpson Construction Co., based in Cleveland, Tenn. A Simpson employee said her company would release the victim’s names only after their family members were told about the accident.
“The investigation really has just started,” TDOT spokesman Travis Brickey said Wednesday afternoon. He said the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration would take part in the investigation.

The bridge
Brickey said the project’s long-term goal is to build a new four-lane “bulb-tree” bridge over the Holston River – to better accommodate traffic from the highway, which links Interstate 26 with the Tri-Cities Regional Airport.
Construction crews will demolish the highway’s existing two-lane steel-truss bridge once the new structure is finished. Simpson started the project in May 2008 and is expected to finish by November 2010.
Bulb-tree bridges involve a series of concrete columns or pylons that support a large brace that in turn supports the road bed. Brickey said construction crews build this type of bridge by using a series of steel rebar structures that are held in the air by a crane.
Construction crews build a base around the rebar frame, then fill it in with concrete.
Brickey said the accident victims and a fourth construction worker who did not fall into the river were building a rebar frame when it collapsed, knocking them in the river.
“We’re not sure what caused that column to collapse,” Brickey said, adding he wasn’t sure how long the investigation would take.
Simpson Construction Co. Compliance Officer Ron Higgins told the Herald Courier’s news partner, News Channel 11 Connects, that his company’s initial investigation shows the rebar frame collapsed after its stabilizing cable snapped. The company will continue to investigate the accident today, Higgins said.
He also said the woman and the man, who were respectively taken to the Johnson City Medical Center and the Holston Valley Medical Center, are recovering from minor injuries, including a fractured ankle and some dislocated fingers.
All three people involved in the accident were wearing their safety equipment, Higgins said, but the man who drowned detached his line when the steel toppled so he could jump into the river for safety.

The mishaps
A Wings Air Rescue helicopter landed in Rose Mulcahy’s front yard when it stopped by the accident site to take the woman to the Johnson City Medical Center.
“I have to cross that bridge everywhere I go,” said Mulcahy, whose driveway empties onto State Route 75 right before the bridge’s guardrail starts. So far, she said, living beside the bridge replacement project has “not been a lot of trouble.”
Mulcahy said Simpson has done a good job of keeping the traffic flowing across the bridge and through her neighborhood. They’ve also recently been doing a good job of keeping their equipment from blocking her vehicle in the driveway, she said.
But even as Mulcahy complimented the company on its work, she said Simpson has a couple scratches on its record: two minor accidents at the job site that she said could have been a lot worse.
On June 2, 2008, a subcontractor hired by Simpson was removing trees from the site when his track-hoe flipped over. Sullivan County EMS and the Tennessee Highway Patrol arrived to help, according to a TDOT incident report, but the subcontractor refused medical treatment, saying he suffered only a few scratches on his arms.
On July 28, 2008, another subcontractor started across the bridge in a dump truck with its back gate still open. The raised bed snagged an aerial utility line, according to a TDOT incident report. It also hit the bridge’s steel frame, knocking debris onto a passing car that was heading north on the bridge.
The woman driving the car wasn’t hurt, according to the incident report, but her car suffered minor damage. The dump truck’s driver was taken to the Bristol Medical Center and later charged with one count of reckless driving, according to a Tennessee Highway Patrol report.
“That’s a lot of accidents,” Mulcahy said, adding that she thinks the construction crews might have broken her water main Tuesday. “But there’s not been anything like this.”
After the Wings Helicopter interrupted her breakfast, Mulcahy said, she went down to the river and saw the divers pull the construction worker’s body out of the water. She said seeing the body was “a sad thing,” but even worse is the possibility the man died because the crane’s cable snapped and dropped its load.
Having worked in construction in the past, Mulcahy said, this was inexcusable because construction crews are required to ensure their equipment is in top working order.
“If somebody doesn’t want to take care of their equipment and a guy dies, that’s pretty bad,” Mulcahy said. “I’m pretty sure TOSHA will be going after them right quick.”

gmclean@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2518

Update at 3:48 p.m.

Simpson Construction Company Compliance Officer Ron Higgins says the man and woman who survived the accident, both employees of the Cleveland, Tennessee company, are recovering from minor injuries. Higgins says those injuries include a fractured ankle and some dislocated fingers.

As for the man who passed away, Higgins says he and the others were wearing their safety gear and were tied to a safety line before the accident occurred. However, Higgins says once the steel began to fall, one worker untied himself from the line and jumped into the river, where he ultimately drowned.

Since next of kin have not yet been notified, Higgins is not releasing the names of those involved.

Higgins says investigators will return to the scene tomorrow to continue their investigation into the cause of the accident. He says the initial findings reveal the rebar toppled after a stabilizing cable snapped.

Click play above for a full report

Update at 12:05 p.m.

11 Connects Nate Morabito reports Highway 75 is back open.

According to Sullivan County Sheriff Wayne Anderson, a cable on a crane snapped, dumping rebar onto an area where 3 construction employees were working. Two men and 1 woman who work for Simpson Construction in Cleveland, Tennessee fell into the Holston River.

Anderson said a man and woman were found in the river and rushed to hospitals in Johnson City and Kingsport. Crews found the body of the third employee, a male, around 11:30 a.m.

Update at 11:49:

Search crews found the body of the third worker in the Holston River.

Update at 11:01:

TVA spokesman Jim Allen says a search and rescue effort is underway in the Holston River underway the Highway 75 bridge in Sullivan County.

A total of three employees fell into the river when rebar tumbled off the bridge, Allen said.

Allen said two employees have been found. One was rushed to Holston Valley Medical Center by ambulance. The other injured worker was airlifted to the Johnson City Medical Center. No word on their conditions so far.

The Highway 75 bridge is less than half a mile below Boone Dam.

Allen said Sullivan County dive teams are in the Holston River looking for the missing worker.

The accident happened at 10:04 a.m.

TDOT spokesman Travis Brickey is on his way to the accident scene.

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Update at 10:46 a.m.:

TVA and Tennessee Department of Transportation officials are on the way to the scene. Conflicting reports are coming in about the number of people injured in the accident.

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Sullivan County emergency and sheriff's crews are investigating reports that a piece of equipment has fallen off the Highway 75 bridge in Sullivan County and injured workers.

According to a sheriff's department spokesman, early reports were that the equipment hit at least one construction employee, and a search was underway to find a construction worker in the Holston River below the bridge.

State road crews have been building a replacement bridge that runs parallel to the old Highway 75 bridge over the Holston River. The road that links Interstate 26 in Gray with the Tri-Cities Regional Airport.

Look for updates on this breaking news story here on Tri-Cities.Com.