October 6, 2008

Two workers injured in separate accidents on Ontario’s Skyway Bridge

St. Catharines

The Garden City Skyway bridge is the site of two Ontario labour ministry investigations stemming from two work accidents six days apart.

A ConCreate USL Limited construction crew, working on the St. Catharines-area bridge, was removing moulds and performing rehabilitation work on the bridge’s piers when both accidents occurred.

The most recent accident was on September 30, 2008, when a worker was on scaffolding 23 metres above ground at the bridge site.

He was working on a section of formwork panel when it came off and struck him, said Bruce Skeaff, spokesperson for Ontario’s labour ministry.

The worker was taken down from the scaffolding, after emergency service personnel arrived, and rushed to hospital. The extent of his injuries are still not known, added Skeaff.

Another accident involving a worker at the site occurred on Sept. 24. The worker was using a crowbar to remove a piece of formwork when piece of a nail came off and lodged in his eye, said Skeaff.

The labour ministry investigations are ongoing and no stop-work orders had been issued as of Oct. 1.

In 2007, for the fourth year in a row, ConCreate USL Limited was the successful bidder with the Ministry of Transportation for the rehabilitation of the substructure of the Garden City Skyway.

In 2007, piers were rehabilitated with a combination of localized concrete patches and full-scale concrete refacing, the company reports on its Web site.

— VINCE VERSACE

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