Employee #1 had accessed a hopper barge to release a cable that had been used to support the barge on the starboard side. The barge was used to catch construction debris from a bridge that was being demolished.
The barge was a modular system consisting of two 10-foot by 40-foot sections side by side with another 10-foot by 20-foot section attached at the end. The total size was 20 feet by 50 feet. The hopper section consisted of one-inch plate steel. The plates were welded vertically to the deck and the side plates were welded at an angle with steel I-beams for support to deflect material to the center. The plates were approximately eight-feet high.
After Employee #1 released the cable, Employee #2, who was operating a tug boat, put the boat at notch one in reverse to back the barge out from under the bridge. After moving approximately two feet, the barge listed six to 12 inches to starboard. It then rolled back to port the same distance, then back to even keel. It then rolled back to port and capsized both vessels. As the vessels were rolling to the port side, Employee #1 jumped into the water and started to swim away. At almost the same time, Employee #2 jumped from the pilot house and swam away. As the barge capsized, Employee #1 was caught in the hopper section trapping him under the barge and he drowned.
Reprinted from Marine Construction Magazine, Issue II, 2024
