


	A workman fell 20 feet from atop Washington Bridge, connecting Milford and Stratford, into the inner workings of the span just above the water. Arnold Gold/Register (Buy Register photos)

Stratford bridge project worker rescued after fall

Phil Helsel, Register Staff

12/12/2006

-STRATFORD - A project superintendent for the Washington Bridge rehabilitation project was in critical condition late Monday after he fell down a narrow access hatch into the inner workings of the span earlier in the day.

Darren Bye, who works for state Department of Transportation contractor Cianbro Corp., fell about 20 feet into a "bascule pit," a mechanical room that houses the machinery used to raise and lower the 85-year-old bridge, at about 11:45 a.m. Monday. It took Stratford firefighters about 45 minutes to rescue Bye, who was eventually lowered to a waiting fire boat in the Housatonic River and ferried to shore, Stratford Fire Chief John Cybart said. The rescue was facilitated by the fact that the Fire Department planned for the possibility of accidents before the work on the bridge began.

Bye was taken to Bridgeport Hospital.

"My understanding is that (Bye) started to enter the pit, and upon entering the opening, he somehow fell to the bottom," said DOT spokesman Kevin Nursick.

It wasn't clear Monday whether Bye was wearing proper safety equipment when he fell. Cianbro, based in Pittsfield, Me., had no comment about the accident and a spokesman for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it had not decided whether to launch an investigation.

Bye had descended into the narrow access hatch that leads from the sidewalk on the southern side of Route 1, and was taking measurements for impending work when he apparently slipped and fell, workers at the scene said. He did not fall into the water below but instead landed at the bottom of the pit, they said.

Cybart said the rescue would have been more complicated had not the Fire Department conducted site walks of the machinery earlier this year.

"It was pre-planning," Cybart said. "One of the problems when they started the project was, how do we get someone out of there if we need to? This way you're going into an area where at least you have some idea where everything is."

The last time Cianbro was cited by OSHA for a Connecticut accident was in 1988, when the company was fined $1,500 for safety violations after Wesley Metallic, a rigger from Quebec, fell to his death while working on the Merritt Parkway between Milford and Stratford on Dec. 10, 1987.

In that fall, the 39-year-old Metallic was securing angle irons to the underside of the metal gate bridge when he fell about 85 feet into the Housatonic River.

Cianbro was fined a year later for three violations of safety standards: Safety belt lanyards worn by employees were of a length that would allow a fall greater than six feet; safety nets were not provided when the work places were more than 25 feet above the ground or water surface; and life preservers with at least 90 feet of line were not provided and readily available for emergencies.

Cianbro said at the time that the violations had been corrected.

The work was being done as part of the $18.4 million rehabilitation of the bridge, which links Route 1 between Milford and Stratford.