21-year-old contract worker killed when truck overturns in Soddy-Daisy highway work zone. The truck was going too fast for the load it was carrying and failed to negotiate the curve, overturning and killing the unlucky worker.
by Ben Benton in Breaking News Read Time: < 1 min.
Thursday, May 17, 2018.
Tennessee Highway Patrol officials say an employee working for a contractor at a state project on State Route 111 was killed Thursday morning when a southbound semitractor-trailer loaded with coal overturned in a work area near the Hamilton-Sequatchie county line.
The big rig flipped onto its side, hitting Christopher Harden, 21, of Rossville, Georgia, who was standing in the construction zone, THP spokesman Sgt. Alan Bailey said Thursday via email.
The tractor-trailer was driven by 33-year-old Jason Canada, of Albany, Kentucky. Canada was taken to Erlanger hospital by ambulance, Bailey said.
The truck is owned by Double Dee Trucking out of Albany, he said.
The deadly crash closed the southbound lanes, forcing traffic to be routed onto Lewis Chapel Road while the accident was investigated and the crash scene cleared, Tennessee Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jennifer Flynn said.
Flynn confirmed that the victim was not a TDOT employee but was working for a contractor operating on a TDOT project. She was unable to immediately provide the name of the company.
According to TDOT records, the resurfacing project on Highway 111's southbound side extends from U.S. Highway 27 to Jones Gap Road.
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The truck was going too fast for the load it was carrying and failed to negotiate the curve, overturning and killing the unlucky worker.
UPDATE: TDOT contract worker fatally struck by semi identified; Hwy 111 reopens
Thursday
morning, a semi driver hit and killed a contract worker, Christopher
Aaron Harden, as he was standing outside of a work vehicle.
Thursday, May 17th 2018, 10:49 am EDT by
Updated:
Thursday, May 17th 2018, 7:05 pm EDT
UPDATE: A deadly crash in a construction zone on Highway 111 is still under investigation.
Tennessee
Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Alan Bailey said the 33-year-old truck
driver lost control of his tractor-trailer when he was coming down the
mountain. He hit and killed a contract worker, Christopher Aaron Harden,
as he was standing outside of a work vehicle.
About 50,000 pounds of coal covered Highway 111 at the foot of Flat Top Mountain.
"It
was one lane coming down the mountain, it was coned off. It was forcing
drivers over to the left hand lane," said Sgt. Bailey.
Investigators said the driver, who is expected to survive his injuries, works for a trucking company based out of Kentucky.
Sgt. Bailey
said the truck driver did not violate the state's Move Over Law because
the road was narrowed to one lane for construction, but said other
charges could be filed.
"It
is more of a violation of speeding in a construction area or driving
recklessly in a construction zone," Sgt. Bailey said. "Whatever the case
is."
The stretch of highway
is marked with construction cones and markings. Investigators said the
truck driver had plenty of warning sings to slow down.
Stay with the WRCB app for updates to this story.
PREVIOUS UPDATE: All
lanes of Highway 111 have temporarily reopened Thursday afternoon,
after they were closed due to a semi hitting a worker contracted by
TDOT.
The crash happened around 10:15 a.m. on the on-ramp near the Hamilton/Sequatchie County line.
The
southbound lanes were closed due to a tractor trailer hitting and
killing a contract worker for TDOT. After hitting the worker, the truck
rolled over, spilling coal onto the road near a construction zone.
TDOT
spokeswoman Jennifer Flynn says crews will have to close one lane again
once traffic has gotten through the area, so cleanup of the coal that
was spilled during the crash can continue.
Flynn says the Back Valley Road exit remains closed.
The condition of the semi driver has not been released.
Stay with the WRCB app for updates to this story.
PREVIOUS UPDATE: A
contract worker for the Tennessee Department of Transportation was
fatally struck by a semi truck carrying coal Thursday morning,
Commissioner Rick Nunley tells Channel 3.
The truck then rolled over onto its side, spilling coal onto the roadway near the construction zone.
There's no word on injuries to the driver of the truck.
The TN State Road 111 repaving project is underway nearby.
TDOT is diverting traffic to Lewis Chapel Road.
PREVIOUS STORY: A tanker truck carrying coal overturned Thursday morning near Soddy-Daisy.
The accident happened about 10:15am on a Highway 111 on-ramp near the Hamilton/Sequatchie County line.
Hazmat
crews have been dispatched to the site to determine the nature of the
crash and any possible leaks from the truck's fuel tank.
The southbound, right-hand lane is blocked because of the crash.
Drivers in the area should use caution and watch for emergency vehicles as they work to clear the crash.
The truck was going too fast for the load it was carrying and failed to negotiate the curve, overturning and killing the unlucky worker.