A Knoxville, Tenn., engineering firm is investigating the Gatlinburg Wastewater Treatment Plant where two workers died on April 5 after an equalization basin wall collapsed and more than 2 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Little Pigeon River. Photo: By AP Worldwide An equalization basin wall collapsed on April 5 at a wastewater treatment plant in Gatlinburg, Tenn., following heavy rainfall. Photo: By AP Worldwide Two workers employed by plant operator Veolia Water North America were crushed to death. Construction Engineering Consultants is investigating the cause of the structural failure. Gatlinburg city officials on April 8 hired Construction
The Indiana Dept. of Labor has issued six safety violations and fines of $77,500 to the University of Notre Dame relating to the investigation of a fatal scissor-lift accident last fall. According to the violations, the school had instructed untrained employees to go up in lifts in high winds, directly violating manufacturers' warnings and generally accepted work practice. On Oct. 27, one lift tipped over, killing 20-year-old student Declan Sullivan while he was videotaping football practice. The decision to use the lift in adverse weather conditions prompted a “knowing” citation, the most serious safety violation under Indiana law. The university
In opening statements on April 4 and 5 in the New York City trial of three construction managers related to a 2007 fire at a former Ground Zero high-rise that killed two firefighters, the prosecution and defense painted vastly different portraits of the officials charged with criminally negligent homicide and manslaughter. Photo: AP Trial of construction defendants in fatal 2007 New York City high-rise fire could last four months or more. The inferno killed firefighters Joseph Graffagnino and Robert Beddia. About 100 others were injured. In proceedings that could last more than four months, on trial are Jeffrey Melofchik, former
Photo: Courtesy Of Pierce County Public Works & Utilities Firefighters rescued a 37-year-old laborer after he was swept 3,500 feet through a concrete sewer line he was preparing to reline at the Chambers Creek Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant near Tacoma, Wash. The employee of Seattle’s Frank Coluccio Construction, lead firm on the relining project, was working in an existing 72-in. concrete raw pressure line about 80 ft belowground on March 21. Investigating the pipe while hooked to a wench-and-cable system, the laborer ran out of line and wanted to look a few feet farther down the pipe; rather than exit
Investigators will require months to determine the causes of accidents in two cities that killed three union ironworkers on Feb. 8. The family of the ironworker who died in suburban Chicago has filed a wrongful death suit, alleging contractor negligence in the collapse of a steel structure that struck him at a hospital project site. In the other accident, in New York City, it is not clear whether two workers who fell 65 feet were wearing protective equipment. The family of the Chicago ironworker, Kenneth Puplava, 43, has filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court, naming contractors at the Glenbrook
Investigators will require months to determine the causes of two accidents that killed three union ironworkers on Feb. 8. Photo: Courtesy of Goldberg, Weisman & Cairo Ltd. Wrongful death lawsuit alleges that defective welds were a factor in fatal beam collapse. The family of the Chicago ironworker, Kenneth Puplava, 43, has filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court, alleging contractor negligence in the collapse of a steel structure that struck him at a suburban hospital construction site. The suit names the project’s general contractor, Pepper Construction Co., Chicago, and its steel erector-fabricator, Lejeune Steel Co., Minneapolis, which employed Puplava. Puplava
A parking-deck structure under construction partially collapsed Feb. 14 in San Antonio, injuring two construction workers at the University Health System’s University Hospital site. Related Links: Contractor Sounds Evacuation Alarm Prior to Texas Parking Deck Collapse OSHA investigators yesterday began examining the site, and UHS is in the process of hiring a engineering forensics team to help determine the cause of the accident, says Mark Webb, president of facilities development and project management for UHS. Footage from a nearby security camera caught the entire collapse as it occurred. It appeared to happen as two events, one immediately after the other,
FELIX Composite-materials makers have announced a pledge to fight a pending designation of styrene as a health hazard by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Photo: Courtesy ACMA/Philippe Nobile On the expo floor in Ft. Lauderdale at the American Composites Manufacturers Association annual meeting, members of the fast-growing $17.7-billion-a-year industry talk business. Speaking at the American Composites Manufacturers Association 2011 exhibition and convention on Feb. 2-4 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the firms vowed to stage an aggressive congressional lobbying effort against the designation of styrene as a “reasonably anticipated” carcinogen. ACMA President Monty Felix, CEO of Alaglas Swimming
An arbitration panel overseeing a dispute between the general contractor and owner of a Jacksonville, Fla. garage that collapsed during construction has announced initial findings in favor of the contractor. Choate Construction Co. of Atlanta announced Feb. 7 that the panel ruled in its favor on all issues. Choate had faced claims related to the collapse and for breach of contract. The contractor also stated that it had received favorable rulings on its claims for breach of contract and wrongful termination. Berkman Plaza II LLC, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based developer Harbor Cos., was the owner of the 413-space parking garage
The National Transportation Safety Board's interim report on the Sept. 9 natural-gas pipeline rupture and explosion that killed eight people in San Bruno, Calif., focuses on defective pipe welds as a cause of the blast. Photo: Courtesy NTSB A new report says a portion of the California pipeline that exploded on Sept. 9 was seam-welded. The study rules out external corrosion and damage caused by a third party as causes of the blast. Owner Pacific Gas & Electric’s records indicate the pipeline was seamless, but NTSB's report, released on Dec. 14, says a portion near the rupture was seam-welded. The
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