A crane operator working on an overpass in Maryland near the new Woodrow Wilson bridge across the Potomac River was electrocuted Aug. 23 when the crane's boom fell and hit a power line, says a spokesman for the project.
Robert Farrell, 44, an operator for heavy-highway contractor G.A. & F.C.Wagman Inc., York, Pa., was working on a new overpass across the Capital Beltway in Oxon Hill, Md., near the site of the new Wilson span. Project spokesman John Undeland says Farrell had finished using the crane to move some construction equipment and had put the boom in the "up" position. After Farrell got out of the cab, the boom started to come down, Undeland says. Farrell tried to stop the boom but it hit the power wires, and he was electrocuted, according to Undeland and Eric Menzer, a spokesman for Wagman. Officials said attempts to revive Farrell on the site were not successful.