The families of two workers killed when a wall collapsed at the Gatlinburg, Tenn., Wastewater Treatment Plant last year claim the city and its construction and engineering firms knew of construction problems in 1997 but did not act to stabilize the wall.In a pair of similarly-worded lawsuits filed Feb. 27 in Circuit Court in Sevierville, Tenn., the families of John Eslinger, 53, and Don Storey, 44, claim that failure to act resulted in the workers’ deaths April 5, 2011, when the east wall of the stabilization basin fell onto the flow control room, trapping the two men and spilling about
Kentucky officials are studying ferry service to move traffic across Kentucky Lake until the U.S. 68/Route 80 bridge can be repaired after a 322-ft span collapsed in a Jan. 26 ship collision.
The Gatlinburg, Tenn., wastewater treatment plant has had a third worker fatality in less than a year after an earthen wall collapse killed a demolition worker Feb. 23The identity of the victim was confirmed as Michael “Mike” Eugene Wells, 58, of Candler, N.C., an employee of Roberson Inc. of Enka, N.C. The confirmation was from Brad Searson, an Asheville, N.C., attorney who has been hired by Marjorie Mae Wells, the worker’s widow.Wells “was struck from behind with dirt and rock and received fatal wounds,” according to a statement issued by the City of Gatlinburg after the incident. He was removed
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers let contracts to repair two major breaches in Missouri River levees in late October, but it will be February before contracts go out for work with a four-month completion estimate on eight other jobs in higher life-safety risk areas.
Kentucky officials are looking at speeding up construction of a four-lane bridge over the Tennessee River after a 322-ft span on the existing U.S. 68/KY 80 bridge collapsed following a cargo ship collision late on Jan. 26.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must pay more attention to flood control, update its data-gathering technology and procedures, and improve its collaboration and communication efforts.
Related Links: Engineers Probe Why Wall Fell, Killing Two Plant Operators Collapsed Wall at Tenn. Treatment Plant Was Defective, OSHA Says NEO Corp., Canton, N.C., will start on Jan. 2 to demolish the equalization basin at the Gatlinburg, Tenn., wastewater treatment plant where two workers died after a wall collapse in April.The contract is for $96,100, and the work is to be completed within 45 days, according to a memo between the city of Gatlinburg and NEO.A date for requests for bids on the equalization-basin reconstruction has not been set, nor has a construction start, a city spokeswoman said.The NEO
Binghamton, N.Y., and Johnson City, N.Y., and their joint sewage board have gone back into court, detailing design and construction mismanagement problems at the sewage treatment plant where a 100-ft wall collapsed in May.Defendants now include 10 engineering or construction firms as well as four insurance firms, which are are involved in the $67-million, phase-three upgrade to meet state environmental standards for the outflow that feeds into the Susquehanna River.Leading the defendants are C&S Engineers Inc., and C&S Companies, Syracuse, N.Y., the engineer-of-record and construction manager for the expansion, and C.O. Falter Construction Corp., Syracuse, which did general construction for
Related Links: Midwest Floods of Summer Hit U.S. Railroad Network The joint-venture Iowa team of Peterson Contractors Inc., Reinbeck, and Reilly Construction Co. Inc., Ossian, established one goal in late September when it started rebuilding Interstate 680 near Crescent: get the flooded highway repaired and reopened as quickly as possible. The contractor's $19.2-million contract came with a $2 million bonus if all four lanes of the 2.56-mile segment were open by Nov. 20. The team finished the job in 33 days, well ahead of the owner's Dec. 23 deadline."Everybody went to work," said Cork Peterson, Peterson vice president. "Everybody had
Related Links: Quick Flood Repairs Earn Contractors a Bonus The Missouri River flooding closed railroads as well as highways last summer, but U.S. railroad companies stayed a step ahead of the floodwaters, building levees and elevating tracks to keep their trains running.Norfolk Southern Railway and Union Pacific Railroad raised track in Kansas and Missouri major floods within the past two decades, but the 2011 flood was so severe that they were again forced to elevate roadbeds.“Due to major roadbed work after the 1993 flood and additional work after the 2007 flood our track did not require any additional raising,” said