California Bridge Collapse Kills Worker and Injures Seven
One construction worker died and seven others were injured from the collapse of a 100-ft-long section of falsework on a northern California bridge construction project Dec. 3. Officials decline to speculate on the cause, but say that a hydraulic jack slipped immediately before the 75-ft-tall falsework section collapsed.
The accident occurred on the Maxwell Bridge, a $40-million project in Napa that will replace an adjacent 1940s-era bridge spanning the Napa River. The projects general contractor, C.C. Myers Inc. of Rancho Cordova, Calif., has completed about half of the westbound span of the 1,700-ft-long concrete segmental box girder bridge, which has been under construction since April and is scheduled for completion in late 2005. The completed section sustained no damage in the accident, says Barry Martin, a spokesman for the city of Napas transportation management plan.