Middleton said his experience has been that Kokosing is a "very safety-conscious" contractor with high ratings. It was replaced by a new ramp that exits to the right from northbound 75 near the University of Cincinnati. The overpass once carried a ramp that had been a left-hand exit from northbound I-75 and carried traffic over the southbound lanes to Hopple Street. "At this point it's under investigation." "I would say there any number of possibilities," Middleton said of the accident's cause. Westerville, Ohio-based Kokosing Construction was dong the demolition under a nearly $91 million contract for a three-year project meant to improve traffic capacity and safety in a busy stretch of I-75. Gary Middleton, acting deputy director of the Ohio transportation department's southwest Ohio district, said it was a "routine operation" being carried out by a major contractor. Transportation officials said heavy equipment was being used to separate the concrete deck from structural steel when the span fell. "In a matter of seconds his fate would have probably been different."
OVERPASS COLLAPSE DRIVER
"The big-rig driver is very lucky," Blackwell said. His truck slammed into the overpass as the debris landed.
He was taken to a hospital with what were described as minor injuries. The name of the tractor-trailer driver wasn't released immediately. 6 spotlight, Mike Pence navigates a tricky post-Trump path The Hamilton County coroner's office will do an autopsy to determine cause of death Cincinnati fire officials said the body was recovered from rubble with the help of air bags and special equipment early Tuesday morning, about four hours after the accident. "It's just timing that we only had one fatality."Īuthorities identified the worker who was killed as Brandon William Carl, 35, of Augusta, Kentucky. "The situation could have been significantly worse," Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell said Tuesday. The Ohio Department of Transportation said it's difficult to predict how long pavement repairs might take without seeing the damage.Ĭincinnati authorities said casualties could have been much higher had the accident occurred at a busy time on the interstate that carries more than 178,000 vehicles a day through the area some five miles north of the Ohio River. Ohio transportation authorities will then assess the pavement where the section of overpass deck landed Monday night with what a resident described as an earth-shaking thud. The removal of debris from Interstate 75 began Tuesday afternoon and was expected to take 24 to 48 hours. Tons of concrete and steel covered the southbound lanes of a major Cincinnati artery Tuesday after an overpass collapse during demolition work left one worker dead, a tractor-trailer driver injured and police considering what the potential toll might have been had the accident occurred amid heavy traffic.