BRIDGES: One confirmed dead after beam falls on Illinois’ Touhy Avenue

    April 6, 2016

    Contractor being investigated after section slips off pier support

    A worker is dead after a steel bridge beam on the I-90 project fell on Touhy Avenue in Des Plaines, Ill. Three others were hurt.

    Crews were removing sections of the Touhy Ave. bridge early in the morning on April 5 when a beam rolled off pier support and came crashing down on the men. Steel bracing was being cut between the beams when the accident happened. Vicente Santoyo was killed.

    The Occupational Safety and Health Administration believes a strap or chain used to support the beam may have failed.

    Touhy Ave. remained closed on April 5, and two lanes on I-90 were shut down as officials conducted an investigation.

    OSHA spokesperson Scott Allen said the accident could have been prevented, and contractor Omega Demolition Corp., based in Elgin, Ill., is being questioned.

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    Investigators look to see if tragedy could have been prevented