The highway will be closed for at least 48 hours. The construction company was the general contractor on the project, Smigelski said.Ī construction worker was killed and a semi driver injured when an overpass collapsed onto southbound Interstate 75 near Hopple Street Monday night. The worker who died in the collapse was an employee of Kokosing Construction Company, based out of Fredericktown, Ohio. Officials couldn’t immediately release estimates of the damage or if the collapse would push back the completion date. The bridge demolition was part of a $90.7 million project that started in the spring of 2013 and was slated to be complete in June of 2016, according to ODOT spokesperson Sharon Smigielski. The construction worker killed in an overpass collapse on Interstate 75 has been identified as Brandon Carl, 35, according to our partners at WCPO. Monday night Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffery Blackwell estimated a 48 hour closure of the freeway, but crews were able to complete cleanup and repairs in just one day. Our news partners at WCPO-TV are reporting all southbound lanes of I-75 have reopened 24 hours after a deadly overpass collapse. “It seems clear that there was someone who was missing something with how the remaining structure was being loaded (by) this poor fellow.” “The bridge fell down as a result of some combination of human intervention and reduced structural stability,” Mariscalco said. He also said federal investigators will likely look at the demolition plan and question why the highway wasn’t closed while the bridge was dismantled overhead. No additional work needs to be done to remove the bridge after the collapse, he added.īridges are more likely to collapse randomly than during the demolition process, said forensic and failure analysis engineer Mike Mariscalco of QEI Engineers Inc. Monday’s bridge deconstruction was the last of five bridges that Kokosing dismantled as part of the construction overhaul on the Cincinnati highway, Cunningham said. OSHA investigators also confirmed that while the company has received two safety citations since 2010, it has a good history of workplace safety. Highway officials said Kokosing handled $225 million worth of projects for the state last year. “Unfortunately, a tragic situation occurred and things aligned and (clean-up) moved very rapidly.” “Essentially, it was like filling a large pothole,” Cunningham said of the slight damage to the highway. He said once the debris from the bridge was cleaned up, crews discovered minimal damage to I-75. However, any financial obligations the company faces could be negotiated, Cunningham said. The stretch of southbound I-75 shut down for 24 hours this week has four lanes - which could cost a company more than $1 million under the state’s agreement. Charges include $3,000 for every 15 minutes that a highway lane is unexpectedly closed. “That’s going to take some time to determine - to finalize those scenarios and the financial aspect of things.”Īside from clean-up costs, state documents show Kokosing agreed to financial disincentives for unexpected lane closures like the one that occurred after the bridge collapse. “There are a lot of factors that will be considered,” Cunningham said. State officials won’t decide whether Kokosing will pay for clean-up or delay fees until the OSHA report is released, said Ohio Department of Transportation spokesman Brian Cunningham. Kokosing Construction Inc., an Ohio-based contractor working on a $90.7 million overhaul of the highway stretch and viaduct, cleaned up the mess in 24 hours. A truck driver was also injured in the crash and taken to a nearby hospital. Carl’s body was discovered just before 3 a.m. The bridge was structurally sound at the time of its collapse, meaning investigators are narrowing in on human error as the cause of the collapse, Allen said.Ĭarl, and roughly 10 other construction workers were dismantling the bridge when it flattened the highway around 10:30 p.m. The federal agency conducted 4,500 fatal work injuries during 2013.Īllen said investigators were on the scene again Wednesday and plan to interview the employer as well as witnesses who saw the Hopple Street bridge come crashing down Monday night. “I haven’t seen a fatality investigation complete in less than three months,” Allen said. Debris from the accident - which spilled onto southbound Interstate 75 near Mitchell Avenue and shut down the strip of highway - was cleaned up earlier than expected Tuesday night and allowed the highway to reopen.īut work to determine the cause of the collapse that killed Brandon Carl of Kentucky and injured another man has just begun, highway officials say.Īn Occupational Safety and Health Administration report will take between three and six months at least to complete, OSHA spokesman Scott Allen said.
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