Girder Warning Botched (Audio of 911 Call Made Before Fatal Collapse)

The Denver Post ^ | Tuesday, May 18, 2004 | Trent Seibert and Jeffrey Leib

[beaversmom]

More than an hour before an Evergreen family was crushed to death Saturday morning on Interstate 70 by a 40-ton steel girder, authorities were warned that the girder appeared "structurally unsafe."

A motorist on a cellphone called 911 about 8:50 a.m. and told the Colorado State Patrol that the girder "looks like it's structurally unsafe over the freeway."

"It may not be a big deal, but I've done bridge construction in the past, and it doesn't look right," the unidentified caller said.

Though the caller was explicit that an I-beam girder was out of place, the dispatcher mistakenly believed the caller was concerned about a sign hanging over the roadway. That inaccurate information was relayed to the Colorado Department of Transportation, which sent out a maintenance crew looking for a dislodged road sign rather than a 100-foot-long girder perched at an odd angle on the C-470 overpass above Interstate 70.

By 9:29 a.m. the CDOT crew radioed that it had found a damaged sign in the median and left the scene.

Approximately 30 minutes later, the girder collapsed, killing William J. "Billy" Post, 34, his 36-year-old wife, Anita, and their 2-year-old girl, Koby Ann.

"The information passed on to CDOT proved not to be accurate," Colorado State Patrol Maj. Jim Wolfinbarger said Monday. "It's a very regrettable circumstance."

Wolfinbarger would not identify the dispatcher but said she had been employed for five years and has been placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation into the deaths.

While Monday's revelations suggest that the deaths of the Post family might have been prevented, experts remain perplexed by what caused the girder to collapse in the first place.

They are examining everything from structural failures to human error and even sabotage to try to explain why the steel girder twisted out of position and crashed onto the highway.

Others in state government are looking at how a clear message of warning went unheeded.

A review of the 911 tape shows that the initial call-taker either did not hear or did not understand the caller's detailed reference to the I-beam girder that looked unsafe and apparently believed he was referring to an unsafe sign hanging from the C-470 overpass.

The caller said: "The bridge at C-470 and I-70, it looks like they hung a new I-beam girder in the last couple of days. Well, it's rolled and it looks like it's structurally unsafe over the freeway."

The dispatcher responded: "So is the sign actually hanging down?"

The caller: "Well, it's rolled to, toward the existing bridge a good 2 or 3 feet."

Wolfinbarger described the mix-up as a "miscommunication" between the dispatcher and the caller.

The State Patrol then contacted a CDOT maintenance crew about "a sign on C-470 that's over I-70."

"The guy says that it's hanging, looks like it's not very safe. Can you guys check on that and see if he knows what he's talking about or if it's just the way it looked to him?"

Perhaps adding to the confusion, the CDOT crew did, in fact, find a sign in the median of the highway nearby.

"It's not a hazard," a crew member declared, according to a recording of their radio communication. He didn't notice the beam was out of place.

CDOT chief engineer Craig Siracusa described the crew as one without engineering experience, trained to fill potholes and provide basic maintenance.

Siracusa would not speculate on whether the crew should have noticed anything amiss with the girder.

"We're cooperating fully with the investigating team," Siracusa said. CDOT is also conducting an internal investigation, he said.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office logged about 100 calls after the girder collapse from people who said - after the fact - they noticed something awry with the girder, said sheriff's spokeswoman Jacki Tallman.

That figure does not include calls that may have been directed to other jurisdictions.

Tallman said the male motorist who made the 8:51 a.m. Saturday call has been interviewed by the sheriff's office, but his name will not be released until further interviews are conducted by National Transportation Safety Board investigators who are spearheading the investigation that includes five agencies.

One team of investigators is examining all the after-the-fact calls, for example, said NTSB investigator-in-charge Kenneth Suydam.

Also part of the investigation is a photograph of the girder taken by a motorist on Thursday, two days after it was installed next to the C-470 bridge and two days before its collapse, CDOT spokeswoman Stacey Stegman said.

One engineer interviewed by The Denver Post said the picture may show early signs that the unbraced bottom portion of the girder was beginning to bow - moving out of a straight vertical position.

In the picture, supporting steel stiffeners that are welded vertically to the girder appear to be angled slightly in the portion of the beam that collapsed over the eastbound lanes of I-70.

That could indicate that the bottom of the girder had moved slightly out of vertical position well before the accident. CDOT officials have said the girder collapse was caused by its "flipping out" at the bottom into an unstable horizontal position.

"They're going to be reviewing these as part of the investigation," Stegman said, who forwarded the pictures to CDOT bridge engineer Mark Leonard.

Stegman also reiterated that CDOT was not the entity that determined how to brace the girder to the C-470 bridge.

"The contractors make those determinations, based on the type of girder," she said.

Many have questioned whether the bracing system used to attach the girder to the C-470 road deck was adequate. The bracing consisted of five angle irons that attached the top portion of the girder to the highway road deck at equidistant locations along the 100-foot length of the girder.

But there was no bracing used for the bottom portion of the girder, according to CDOT.

"We expect anything we set on the project to be stable for any period of time," Stegman said. "If there was any reason to believe there was a safety problem on the bridge, the highway would not be open."The eastbound lanes of I-70 will be closed between Genesee and West Sixth Avenue today at 9 p.m. until 2 a.m. Wednesday so crews can remove the 500-ton crane in the median at the scene of the accident.

On Monday, the vice president of Ridge Erection Co., the subcontractor that installed the girder for CDOT's prime contractor, said, "We are deeply saddened by the tragic accident."

"I want to extend our sympathy to the families and friends of the folks who lost their lives," said Vernon Dugger in a statement. "We are committed to do everything in our power to ensure the discovery of the cause of this accident."

A review of records from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration show the erection company was assessed penalties by OSHA for worker fatalities in 1993 and 1996.

The 1993 incident involved a project at Buckley Air Force Base in which a construction crew was dismantling a radar dome. Ridge was one of the contractors on the project, in which a worker fell from a platform suspended from a crane. Ridge paid a $12,200 penalty for its part in the accident, according to OSHA records.

In 1996, a Ridge worker was killed in an accident in Golden and the company paid a $5,300 penalty in the case, said John Healy, area director for the Englewood office of OSHA.

OSHA records show two additional inspections of the company in 1997, but no fines or penalties had to be paid.

"It's encouraging there have not been inspections of them since 1997," Healy said.

Gov. Bill Owens has been following the investigation and is particularly disturbed by the opportunity missed by the initial 911 call, spokesman Dan Hopkins said.

"Clearly, the governor has been distressed about all aspects of this tragedy, and this just compounds it more," Hopkins said.

Staff writers Ann Schrader and Ann Depperschmidt contributed to this report.

Staff writer Trent Seibert can be reached at 303-820-1310 or tseibert@denverpost.com . Staff writer Jeffrey Leib can be reached at 303-820-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com .

TRANSCRIPT OF 911 CALL

A motorist calls the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and is transferred to the Colorado State Patrol at 8:51 a.m.

Dispatcher: State Patrol.

Caller: Uh, yeah, the bridge at C-470 over I-70, it looks like they hung a new I-beam girder in the last couple of days. Well, it's rolled and it looks like it's structurally unsafe over the freeway.

Call taker: So is the sign actually hanging down?

Caller: Well, it's rolled to, toward the existing bridge a good 2 or 3 feet.

Call taker: And it's on C-470 over I-70?

Caller: Yes.

Call taker: OK. And do you know which direction?

Caller: It's over the eastbound side of I-70. It may not be a big deal, but I've done bridge construction in the past and it doesn't look right.

Call taker: OK, we'll have someone check on it. Can I have your name please and the number you are calling from?

Caller response deleted

Call taker: OK, thank you very much.

Caller: Thank you. Bye.

The Colorado State Patrol call taker seeks advice from a communications officer in her office.

Call taker: Hello, that sign?

Communications officer: What's it doing?

Call taker: He said it's like hangin'.

Communications officer: It's hanging?

Call taker: And it looks unstructurally safe.

Communications officer: OK. Do I give that to A Tom 15 or do I give it to like an area truck?

Call taker: See if the area truck can check on it and then you'll have to give it, I think it goes to that A Tom 51 guy if it's over a hazard like that guy is saying. But see if the area truck can check on it first.

Communications officer: OK.

Call taker: OK.

Communications officer: Bye.

A Colorado State Patrol communications officer contacts a Department of Transportation field crew at 8:56 a.m.

CSP: 8 Mary 5 Denver.

CSP: Sir, just need to see if you guys can check on something. We had a call from a passer-by that says that there's a sign on C-470 that's over I-70. Says it's the eastbound sign of I-70. The guy says that it's hanging, looks like it's not very safe. Can you guys check on that and see if he knows what he's talking about or if it's just the way it looked to him?

CDOT: 10-4. We'll check it out, Denver.

CSP: Thank you, sir. 8:56.

The CDOT field crew reports back at 9:29 a.m.

CDOT: Denver 8 Mary 5, Denver 8 Mary 5.

Dispatch: 8 Mary 5.

CDOT field crew: It's 10-23, 10-24 on that damaged sign at C-470 and I-70. The only one we could find damaged is in the median. We'll put it pending for Monday. It's not a hazard.

Dispatch: OK. Do you want me to hold the call here for him? Or are you gonna advise him of it?

CDOT field crew: Yeah, we'll advise Monday morning.

Dispatch: You're wonderful, thank you. 9:29.

Approximately 31 minutes later, the girder sagged to the roadway, killing three members of an Evergreen family.

Audio of 911 Call

[beaversmom]

Family had moved out of New York after Nine-Eleven

Family had moved out of New York after Nine-Eleven

Denver-AP -- Terrorist attacks prompted them to move out of New York -- but it was a freak accident that ultimately took their lives. William Post, his wife Anita and their two-year-old daughter Koby Anne were killed on a Denver-area highway this weekend, when a 40-ton bridge girder collapsed on their vehicle.

The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News report the Nine-Eleven attacks prompted the family to move from New York, where William Post worked as a systems engineer near the World Trade Center.

The co-owner of a day care center where the couple's daughter sometimes stayed calls the family "the most wonderful people you could imagine" -- and he says the little girl was "an absolute sweetheart."

Billy and Anita Post

Koby Ann Post

[beaversmom]

Investigators are pictured at the scene of an accident on Interstate 70 west of Denver near Golden, Colo., on Saturday, May 15, 2004, where a steel girder from a bridge under construction collapsed and killed three people in a late model SUV. East bound I-70 was shut down for hours. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

[beaversmom]

[beaversmom]

Colorado Governor Bill Owens, right, holds a news conference at the scene of an accident on Interstate 70 west of Denver near Golden, Colo., on Saturday, May 15, 2004, where a steel girder from a bridge under construction collapsed and killed three people in a late model SUV. Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink listens at left. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

[Lawgvr1955]

The dispatcher has nothing to worry about. No one in Governemt is ever fired for making mistakes. Guess the number of government employees fired over Waco, Ruby Ridge, 9-11, etc.

ZERO.

[SkyPilot]

The caller said: "The bridge at C-470 and I-70, it looks like they hung a new I-beam girder in the last couple of days. Well, it's rolled and it looks like it's structurally unsafe over the freeway."

The dispatcher responded: "So is the sign actually hanging down?"

You don't have to be a mechanical engineer to understand the difference between an I-beam girder and a sign.

[Lancey Howard]

Caller: Uh, yeah, the bridge at C-470 over I-70, it looks like they hung a new I-beam girder in the last couple of days. Well, it's rolled and it looks like it's structurally unsafe over the freeway.

Call taker: So is the sign actually hanging down?

Where do they find these people? (Never mind - - I think I know.)
Beam me up.....

[DB]

Looks like serious incompetence to me.

A tragedy.

[ChefKeith]

This is just plain stupidity!

The "crew" should have looked around better, or at least gotten together and pulled their collective heads out of their A$$es.

And don't even get Me started on the 911 call taker, but I'll bet she was to busy doing her nails or drinking coffee.

< /JUST DAMN! >

[Ichneumon]

[Call taker: So is the sign actually hanging down?]

Where do they find these people? (Never mind - - I think I know.)

To be fair, the caller dropped the ball too by not listening well enough to the dispatcher, not noticing that she was asking about a *sign*, and clarifying his message to her.

[Iris7]

Lots of people are tremendously non-mechanical. Even imagining what had happened at the bridge was beyond the dispatcher. I think she simply did not know what she had been told, simply had no idea of what the caller was talking about.

See it all the time.

[DB]

I think your right about the dispatcher.

But the bigger issue is those who put the girder up without sufficient support. They have something to answer for. They were suppose to know what they were doing.

[Iris7]

Yeah, that is strange. Girder must have been a little badly made, too, should not have sagged and bowed and then droop and twist in the middle until it rolled over. Lack of torsonal stiffness.

Bridge girders pretty much just sit there, by the way. Not much keeping them upright except their own stiffness and torsonal rigidity. Might have been specified that way, too narrow a top and bottom to the "I".Will say this, I will be watching, and I will stop traffic if I believe it wise.

[I still care]

I have to say, the whole thing is a tragedy all around. It is a shame this couldn't be avoided.

But this dispatcher sounds like it was a simple misunderstanding. She even repeats that a "sign" is hanging down (now she wasn't hired to be an engineer, a lot of people are really clueless mechanically) and the caller doesn't correct her. So she is left with the idea her interpretation of what he said is correct. Lots of people have no idea what an "I-beam" is.

She immediately notifies whom she thinks is the right people, based on the conversation she had. If the rest of her record is good, I would not blame her.

It seems to me the problem is with whoever put this beam up. And I wish the caller had said, "No, not a sign, a bridge. An I-beam in a bridge".

[snopercod]

I'm sure glad we have homeland security people of this same caliber "protecting" us.

[JustAnAmerican]

"But this dispatcher sounds like it was a simple misunderstanding.

If she, he or it did not understand the word I-Beam, then they should have never been a dispatcher to begin with. Maybe trash collector would be a better job, oh wait you need to know what a garbage can is. This individual and the people who hired she, he or it, shares the blame with the contractors(wonder if the workers were American citizens), the idiotic highway crew who did not see the beam canted, and the PC idiots that hired all the folks involved.

[snopercod]

When I was a test conductor on the Shuttle program, we got calls like this all the time from all over the space center.

I like to think we were a little more highly trained in dealing with them than this ditz on the 911 line. We even went to a class on how to question people so that we really understood what they were trying to say to us.

Personally, I wasn't afraid to look stupid when I asked "obvious" questions, like "Which orbiter are you sitting in?" or "Which pad are you at?". Sometimes it paid off.

[HighWheeler]

This story is just a packaged vignette into the utter incompetence of government operations.

And to think that libs look to government for the solution to all their real and imagined problems.

[Bon mots]

I expect to get flamed for this question, but here goes anyway:

Could this have been a "language" problem, caused by one party speaking ebonics, and the other English?
I've had this situation occur many times, explaining the absolutely stupidest things.

[tm22721]

Bet the attorneys are salivating over this one.

This will get nasty in court.

BUMP