OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #221653066

BRAWNER BUILDERS, INC.

DUNDALK, MD· 2024-03-26T00:00:00

Event: Bridge, Chest, Collapse, Concrete, Crushed, Fall, Fall From Elevation, Highway work zone, Inspecting, Motor Vehicle, Pier, River, Road, Ship, Struck By, Vehicle, Work zone
NAICS: 237310
Inspection type: Federal Agency
Activity number: #347373235
Employer profile: BRAWNER BUILDERS, INC.
Summary number: 221653066
Report ID: 0352470

Event description

Six employees are killed, two are injured when bridge collap

Investigation abstract

At 1:30 a.m. on March 26, 2024, Employees #1-7 were in their work vehicles, on a container ship crashed into one of the bridge's piers. The bridge began to shake, and Contracted State Engineer #1 ran towards the northwest entrance of the bridge. The main span bridge then collapsed into the river. Employee #7's vehicle fell into the Patapsco River, but he was able to escape his vehicle shortly after the fall. Contracted State Engineer #1 arrived at the northwest entrance of the bridge approximately 12 minutes after the collapse, and informed police of the area where Employees #1-7 were parked at the time of the collapse. Employees #1-6 sustained fatal injuries from falling 185 feet into an approximate 50 feet deep section of the Patapsco River. Employee #7 suffered from a crushed chest and was hospitalized. Contracted State Engineer #1 break, while the concrete patches they poured were drying. Contracted State sustained minor injuries. Engineer #1 was on foot, inspecting the concrete patches. All employees were in a roadway work zone on the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which began on the northwest entrance of the bridge, and ran almost the entire length of the main span of the bridge. The work zone was in Lane 1 of the bridge, nearest to the water. Employees #1-7 were parked near the center of the bridge, while Contracted State Engineer #1 was near his vehicle just beyond the northwest entrance of the bridge. A 980 foot long by 157 foot wide by 40 foot tall

Victims (7)

#1 Fatality Age 35 M

Event type
5

Occupation code
889
#2 Fatality Age 49 M

Event type
5

Occupation code
889
#3 Fatality Age 24 M

Event type
5

Occupation code
889
#4 Fatality Age 38 M

Event type
5

Occupation code
889
#5 Fatality Age 37 M

Event type
5

Occupation code
889
#6 Hospitalized Age 37 M

Event type
5

Occupation code
889
#7 Fatality Age 26 M

Event type
5

Occupation code
889

Codes shown verbatim from OSHA's accident-investigation database. A human-readable decoder is coming in a future release once the accident_lookup2 dictionary is loaded.