FEBRUARY 16, 2015
COLUMBUS, OHIO
The demolition plan for a bridge that crossed over
Interstate 75 near Cincinnati was flawed and has been found to have contributed
to the structure’s collapse which killed a worker last month.
According to a report from the Cincinnati Enquirer,
Brian Burgett, CEO of Kokosing Construction, the firm contracted by the Ohio
Department of Transportation to carry out the bridge’s demolition, said the
independent engineering firm his company hired to evaluate the plans in wake of
the collapse found several problems.
“There is no question in our mind there is a mistake that’s
been made in the demo plan design,” Burgett told the Enquirer. “Our
engineering firm has told us that it wouldn’t work the way it was.”
Burgett also apologized to the family of 35-year-old Brandon
Carl, the worker killed in the collapse. In a statement, Burgett said, “I am
very sorry, and all of us are deeply troubled by these findings.”
Carl’s family filed suit against the state of Ohio after Kokosing
announced that changes had been made to the plans just hours before the
collapse.
Burgett told the paper that the company is continuing to
investigate the collapse and said that other factors may have played a role in
the incident. However, in the meantime the company has made a major change
to its demolition policy, instituting a check on its internal plans.
The company has asked engineering firm Janssen &
Spaans to develop its own plan for each of Kokosing’s future demo projects.
“Unless both designs agree, we won’t proceed with demos,” Burgett said. J&S
will also review any amendments or changes made to approved plans.
You can read more about the collapse, including what some
bridge experts have pointed out as an obvious flaw in the Kokosing plans, at
the Enquirer.
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CHANGES WERE MADE TO
DEMOLITION PLANS HOURS BEFORE CINCINNATI BRIDGE COLLAPSE
Kokosing Construction Company Inc., whose employee Brandon
Carl was crushed and killed in January while working atop a bridge
crossing Interstate 75, says it has hired “independent experts” and a
“third party professional engineering firm” to review its demolition plans
for the entire company.
CEO Brian Burgett made the announcement in a statement late
last week, as reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer, where the statement can be read in
full.
Kokosing also released documents detailing demolition
plans for the bridge, which revealed that an engineer made changes to the plans
hours before the incident took place. According to the Enquirer, “An
independent bridge expert has suggested the engineering on those changes was
flawed,” calling them “sloppy,” and fundamentally flawed.”
Carl’s family has since filed a lawsuit against the Ohio Department of
Transportation, calling the department “negligent and careless, according to
the Enquirer.
Burgett said that while nothing the company does “can ever
change the tragic events of January 19 when something went terribly
wrong,” what it has done is “review and reinforce the procedures we follow
to check and double-check our demolition plans for this (the Hopple Street
Ramp Bridge) and other similar projects.”
“We have always had stringent protocols in engineering,”
Burgett continues in the statement, “we are taking this additional step to
enhance the integrity of our demolition plans to protect the safety of our
workers and everyone impacted by the construction we do.”
Kokosing will continue to work with investigators from the
Ohio Department of Transportation and the U.S. Occupational Safety and
Health Administration to figure out what caused the bridge to collapse,
Burgett said.
“We want to know exactly what happened that day. We want to
be sure nothing like this happens again. We work tirelessly to protect the
safety of our employees and traveling public every day,” Burgett concluded.
//------------------------------------------------------------------//
PARENTS OF BRIDGE
COLLAPSE VICTIM FILE LAWSUIT AGAINST ODOT
The parents of the man killed in the Hopple Street bridge
collapse have filed a lawsuit against the Ohio Department of Transportation.
Sharon Frye and Charles Carl, both of Bracken County,
Kentucky, filed the lawsuit in the Ohio Court of Claims on Monday, according to
court documents. The overall amount they are suing for was unspecified, but
they are seeking $11,295.50 in funeral and burial expenses.
It's the first legal action taken against the state after
35-year-old construction foreman Brandon Carl died while crews were preparing
to demolish the old Interstate 75 overpass on Jan. 19.
Carl, of Augusta, Kentucky, was employed by Columbus-based
Kokosing Construction Co., the state's lead contractor on a $91 million project
remaking part of I-75. The lawsuit said ODOT ultimately is responsible because
it hired Kokosing.
The lawsuit claims that ODOT was negligent and careless, in
part, for "failing to warn" workers about the "conditions of a
dangerous and unsafe bridge and flawed plans and calculations for
demolition."
Carl was standing
on the overpass as Kokosing workers prepared to demolish the bridge.
Independent experts have suggested Kokosing didn't go about demolishing
the bridge properly and that subsequent engineering changes to that plan
made just hours before the collapse were flawed. Prior to the start of the
demolition process, the bridge was considered structurally
sound, according to federal data.
Carl was engaged to be married to Kendra Blair, who is the
mother and legal guardian of their four children. Blair, who lives in Bracken
County, is not part of the lawsuit. Frye, of Augusta, and Charles Carl, of
Brooksville, also are asking for Carl's children and four other family members
to be awarded damages.
Blair has hired
well-regarded attorney Mark Hayden – a partner at Downtown-based Taft,
Stettinius & Hollister – to represent her and the children in any potential
legal matters.
