Colorado Springs A 30-year- old man working on an Interstate 25 improvement project died late Sunday when the crane he was operating tipped over and crushed him.
Humberto Rodriguez, 30, was lifting a temporary concrete barrier near I-25 and Exit 148 about 11:40 p.m. Sunday. He had to be extricated from the 30-ton crane by the Colorado Springs Fire Department.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident, the first since the Colorado Springs Metro Interstate Expansion Project, or COSMIX, began last summer. The $150 million project will be completed in 2008.
“We will look into the equipment involved, the maintenance of the equipment. We look at the training of the people involved and the oversight of the work site, and the environmental conditions,” said John Healy, spokesman for OSHA. “It will take several weeks before we come up with any conclusions.”
Rodriquez worked for Sema Construction, one of two main contractors on the job. Sema and CH2M Hill, both based in Denver, formed Rockrimmon Constructors for the Springs project.
Joe Schroeder, project manager for Rockrimmon Constructors, could not say Monday how long Rodriguez worked for the company or how much experience he had as a crane operator.
On Saturday evening, I-25 was reduced to one lane in each direction to allow crews to build a detour onto a new northbound bridge over Monument Creek. The work was nearly completed when the incident occurred, Schroeder said.
In 2002, a 70-foot crane working on Denver’s T-REX toppled over, hitting two cars and injuring three people. OSHA cited Absolute Crane Inc. for operating the crane “outside the manufacturer’s specifications.”
Erin Emery can be reached at 719-522-1360 or eemery@denverpost.com.
