Henry Raymond
Vermont News => Current News & Events => Topic started by: Henry on September 17, 2005, 07:16:01 AM
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Construction crews and officials work Friday to retrieve a cement truck that rolled down an embankment on the Winooski River at the Champlain Mill.
ALISON REDLICH, Free Press
Concrete truck plunges over Winooski embankment
Published: Saturday, September 17, 2005
By Matt Sutkoski
Free Press Staff Writer
WINOOSKI -- A concrete mixing truck plunged over an embankment at downtown Winooski's redevelopment construction site Friday afternoon, but no one was hurt.
Workers at the site said it would take several hours to retrieve the wreckage from the ditch on the bank of the Winooski River.
The mishap started at about 2:30 p.m. when an S.T. Griswold Co. cement truck arrived to pour concrete. The concrete would have gone on a spot between the Winooski River Bridge and the Champlain Mill, where a riverwalk is being built as part of the city's downtown renaissance.
The truck's driver was unable to stop as he was positioning the truck to pour the concrete, Winooski City Engineer Steve Palmer said. "The driver tells us he was backing in and the air brakes didn't work," he said. The driver jumped clear, the truck rolled backward across a pedestrian walkway, then down the embankment and into a ditch about six feet from the edge of the Winooski River.
The name of the truck's driver was not available, nor could officials with S.T. Griswold be reached for comment late Friday afternoon.
No workers were near the spot where the truck landed, and no hazardous materials leaked into the river, Winooski Fire Chief David Bergeron said.
Office workers in the Champlain Mill crowded around windows to watch workers figure out what to do with the truck. Construction workers and passers-by gathered on sidewalks to watch.
"What a beautiful crane," Brent Senesac of Colchester said as he watched huge equipment arrive from Demag Riggers Crane Service.
Senesac sometimes works with Griswold employees on construction sites, so he stopped on the way home from work when he saw the Griswold truck crumpled in the ditch. "I wanted to see who this is and make sure everyone is all right," Senesac said.
The truck, with its load of concrete, probably weighed 60,000 to 80,000 pounds, Bergeron said.
The entire truck could not be lifted out of the ditch even with the huge Demag Riggers crane, Bergeron said, so crews began using acetylene torches to disconnect the truck's drum -- the part that contained the concrete -- from the rest of the vehicle. The crane would remove the drum from the ditch, then return for the rest of the truck, Bergeron said. The project was expected to take hours, and Winooski firefighters planned to remain on the scene in case fluids leaked or someone was hurt.
A Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles inspector was on the scene and likely would start an investigation into why the truck rolled, Palmer said. The construction project would suffer no significant delays, he said.
Contact Matt Sutkoski at 660-1846 or msutkosk@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com Winooski mishaps Winooski's massive downtown redevelopment project is about on budget and on schedule. However, a few mishaps have cropped up along the way:
JUNE 20: A natural gas pipeline breaks during construction at the intersection of West Canal and Main streets. Traffic is disrupted for nearly three hours.
JULY 18: Another gas line is accidentally broken by construction equipment near Champlain Mill. Traffic is again disrupted, and mill employees and construction workers are briefly evacuated.
JULY 27: A municipal parking garage opened in the construction zone, but state safety officials barred vehicles from parts of it due to ventilation and firefighting concerns. The city made changes, negotiated with state safety officials, and only a few spaces will be off limits when the structure goes into full operation in late fall or early winter.