Worker dies when beam falls from I-70
4/13/2013HEBRON, Ohio — A contractor working on an Ohio Department of Transportation construction project in Licking County was killed yesterday morning when a steel beam fell from an I-70 overpass, knocking him from an aerial lift.
The Licking County coroner’s office said Micah Montgomery, 34, of Waverly, was killed by “blunt force injury to the torso sustained in a fall.” He was not struck by the beam, according to the coroner.
Montgomery was employed by Double Z Construction Co., of Columbus, a highway contractor specializing in bridge construction. Double Z is ODOT’s prime contractor on a $10.6 million job replacing the two I-70 bridges over Canal Road near Hebron.
Work on the bridges began about 10 days ago, said Joe Rutherford, supervisor of the ODOT district where the work is taking place.
Union Township police Chief Paula Greene said Montgomery was a divorced father of a daughter and son, ages 12 and 8. She said no one else was injured.
The beam was being removed from the existing bridge about 10 a.m. yesterday when it fell, Rutherford said. Montgomery was working on a platform below.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration office is investigating, said Deborah Zubaty, area director.
Double Z, which did not respond to requests for comment, has suspended work on the bridge until Wednesday.