Contractor Blamed for Collapse of Trolley Bridge

A contractor’s failure to follow proper building procedures caused the collapse of a 400-ton trolley bridge in South Los Angeles that injured eight people in March, a report by the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission concluded.

The report, released Thursday, specifically blamed Morrison-Knudsen Company Inc. of Boise, Ida., of neglecting to use accepted procedures in dismantling a temporary timber-and-steel support system called “falsework” while lowering the 110-foot bridge onto its permanent span over Firestone Boulevard. The bridge was being built to carry the Los Angeles-to-Long Beach light rail line, which is scheduled to begin operating in July, 1990.

The incorrect dismantling effort left the ends of the span without necessary temporary support, Ed McSpedon, the commission’s director of design and construction, said at a downtown press conference. The load on the falsework shifted, the structure became overstressed, and it collapsed, he said.

McSpedon said the spectacular accident resulted in about $500,000 in cleanup and rebuilding expenses but was not expected to delay the trolley’s scheduled opening. The financial losses were covered by insurance.

Safeguards Recommended

The report, which was based on an inter-agency team’s review of 32 interviews, 300 construction documents, 700 photographs and 45 computer scenarios, recommended a host of safeguards to prevent similar accidents from occurring.

These recommendations, which range from closing streets to traffic during falsework removal to having construction managers identify potentially dangerous construction events, have been implemented throughout the $720-million, 22-mile trolley line, dubbed the Blue Line, McSpedon said.

Since the collapse of the bridge, which was one of nine being built for the Long Beach trolley, commission safety consultants have reviewed activities of all contractors involved in the project.

“Based upon our review, all LACTC contractors appear to be using safe construction practices and no safety problems were discovered,” McSpedon said.

Three partially built bridges, similar to the one that collapsed, are scheduled to be lowered over Firestone Boulevard during the next two months.

“There will be in-depth preplanning meetings before each of these next lowering operations take place with the contractor and our construction management people,” McSpedon said. “We will also effect a complete closure of Firestone . . . such that if a hammer falls, if a splinter of wood falls, if anything drops to the street, there will be no possibility that there will be automobiles or pedestrian traffic in the area.”

Contractor’s View

In a telephone interview, Jess Hawley, a spokesman for Morrison-Knudsen, said that although “we had appropriate procedures in place for completion of this type of construction and our people were instructed to follow these procedures, unfortunately, this may not have happened.”

Hawley also said that since the accident, his company has made “some personnel changes” and taken “some disciplinary actions.”

“There is a veteran falsework crew in place there now,” said Hawley, who refused to name employees involved in the disciplinary action.

Meanwhile, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is conducting its own investigation into the cause of the bridge collapse and the contractor’s working procedures. That investigation could possibly result in citations being issued, an OSHA official said.

McSpedon said that among five injured bridge workers, four were back on the job and one was still recuperating from a leg injury.

In addition, the commission’s insurance company has compensated a 30-year-old South Gate father of seven and another man who were trapped in a truck under the bridge for the cost of the vehicle and the gardening tools it carried. Compensation for personal injuries suffered by the men is still being negotiated, McSpedon said. A third pedestrian was nicked by falling lumber but was not hospitalized.

“They only gave me $4,500 for the truck,” said part-time gardener Marcos Pacheco Ramirez, who was driving on Firestone when the trestle collapsed and rained 400 tons of concrete, steel and timber on his truck. “I’m not happy. My truck was worth more than that. It’s not fair.

“I didn’t accept the money, they sent it to me,” added Pacheco, who said he hasn’t worked since the accident because of a badly hurt ankle. Beyond the payment for his truck, he said, “I have no money to live on, but I have seven children to feed.”

Transit commission spokeswoman Erica Goebel, however, said, “I know that LACTC insurance representatives are in contact with Mr. Pacheco to find a mutually acceptable resolution to his needs.”