Walsh Construction Crew Rescues Kayakers In Danger
Swift communication and the heroic action of three Walsh Construction workers likely saved the lives of two kayakers who got trapped beneath the Whittier Bridge construction site in Newburyport, Mass., in floodwaters with strong currents following torrential rain.
At 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 7, Jeff Trider, a pile-driving foreman for Walsh, was on the west side of the bridge that connects Newburyport and Amesbury. He says he was drilling temporary 30-in. caissons when he saw a group of kayakers paddling along the shoreline of the Merrimack River toward the bridge as dark storm clouds gathered.