An excavator working on the Front Street construction fell into a 6-feet-deep trench Friday afternoon. The operator was inside the cab of the excavator when the heavy piece of equipment tipped over the edge of the trench, which was dug to install the new water line. The operator was able to escape the crushed cab after the fall and was not seriously injured.
Friday afternoon an excavator fell into a trench on Front Street located between the Sentinel office and the Kadin building.
The incident occurred shortly before 4:30 p.m. Friday, March 9. The trench, approximately six-feet-deep, had been dug to install a new water line as part of Wrangell’s road and utility improvement project.
The fall crushed the cab of the 320 excavator. An operator employed by Southeast Earthmovers was inside the cab at the time of the fall, but was able to escape from the trench without serious injury.
After the fall, the operator went to the Wrangell Medical Center for examination. No injuries besides a bruised foot were found, according to sources.
McGraw Custom Construction Superintendant Mike Ashton said this was the first major incident to occur during the road improvement project on Wrangell’s main street.
The roadway materials are fine, and when digging a trench, the edges of the trench can become weak and slump away, Ashton said. The excavator got too close to the edges and fell into the trench, he said.
“The machine just tipped into the ditch,” Ashton said.
Members of the construction crew used two 450 excavators to pull the smaller excavator out of the trench. Once out, the excavator was driven away from the construction site.
While the accident damaged the cab, the rest of the excavator was fully functional, said Project Engineer Eric Voorhees. The excavator was back on the construction site Saturday, Voorhees said. A new cab has been ordered to replace the dented cab on the excavator, he said.
Members of the Wrangell Police Department and Fire Department arrived on scene of the accident. People working in nearby office buildings and members of the public also surrounded the accident site. Many were taking pictures of the accident, which soon after were posted on social networking sites online.
Other than the time it took to remove the excavator from the trench, both Voorhees and Ashton said the incident did not cause any serious delay to the road improvement project.
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