Instead of gearing up to celebrate the partial opening of its half-built convention center on Feb. 23, Pittsburgh officials are searching for the cause of a Feb. 12 collapse that killed one ironworker and injured two others. Workers returned to the site the day after the accident, though activity in the area of the collapse has ceased during the investigation, says a spokesman for the local Sports & Exhibition Authority, which was formed to oversee the state-funded project.
Construction of the $332-million David L. Lawrence Convention Center, which looks like a series of covered suspension bridges, had picked up pace after early delays caused by the complexities of the building's geometry and its sophisticated engineering. There had been "no major injuries or deaths," says Thomas E. Kennedy, project executive for the Sports & Exhibition Authority.