Bridge Collapses During Construction Project
A crew was working to tear down part of the bridge on Highway 169 over Second Avenue when it collapsed around 8:30 a.m.Fort Dodge Fire Chief David Luers said the workers were beginning to remove part of the deck on the bridge when it fell about 20 feet.Two people standing on the deck were hurt when it collapsed. The workers are employed by Minnowa Construction Inc., of Harmony, Minn. Project Manager Ben Thorson said one worker suffered a cut on his forehead. The other suffered an injured wrist. They were taken to a local hospital for treatment.Norm McDonald, director of Iowa DOT's Office of Bridges and Structures, said a contractor was working on the bridge in the southbound lanes, removing the bridge deck with an excavator."Looks like there was some failure in the bridge and it brought down the bridge with the excavator on the bridge deck itself at the time," said Dennis Ward, a DOT construction supervisor.The middle span of the bridge had already been removed and Ward said it's possible that weakened the remaining section of the bridge."We don't really know what happened but it looks like that maybe had some unequal loading on the remainder, on the rest of the bridge," said Ward.Because of the work to the bridge, there was no traffic in the southbound lanes of Highway 169 at the time of the collapse. Traffic was all rerouted to northbound lanes.Fort Dodge Assistant Fire Chief Doug Ostbloom saids the two workers on the bridge were lucky. They fell on top of the bridge deck and were not trapped under the debris.Ostbloom said he talked with another worker who happened to be down below and witnessed the collapse."He was watching the two workers standing up there and then when the bridge collapsed they followed down the cement. He said it was almost like cartoons where they just drop down. They were up in the air for a second and then drop down," said Ostbloom.The Iowa Department of Transportation is replacing pavement and three bridges on U.S. 169 in Fort Dodge. Northbound lanes closed on April 5.
