Pedestrian Bridge Collapse in Atlanta

Beth Janicek

Attorney
(866) 735-1102 Ext 395

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The Atlanta Botanical Garden was closed last Friday because of construction that was intended to improve the park for visitors. Unfortunately, the renovations went horribly wrong when an elevated pedestrian bridge collapsed killing one construction worker and injuring at least 18 others. Contractors were on top of the “canopy walk” pouring concrete when the structure fell nearly 40 feet.

An electrical worker at the site said, “It sounded like an explosion. It was so tough. I feel very lucky. Me and my partner—we could have been under the bridge.” In a letter on the Garden’s website Executive Director, Mary Pat Matheson wrote, “We, the staff of the Atlanta Botanical Garden, are still coping with this tragedy and want to express our deepest condolences to the injured and their families. We hope they know that their well-being is our number one concern at this time, and that our thoughts and prayers are with them.”

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigated the incident and found one worker who died was wearing a harness but did not have it anchored. ‘The agency's Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited American Bridge for six safety violations and proposed a total of $90,000 in fines.”

OSHA’s role is to make sure employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthy workplace for their employees by setting and enforcing standards; providing training, outreach and education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual process improvement in workplace safety and health so that incidents like this do not a occur and hardworking people and the innocent public are not injured. They also serve a vital role in being able to quickly investigate these type of deadly work injuries that attorneys for the injured are not allowed the immediate access to the workplace where the injury occurred.