OSHA to investigate Bonner Bridge construction accident that killed worker
A construction worker from Manns Harbor was killed Wednesday and another person injured in an accident on an Outer Banks bridge.
A section of the old Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet collapsed shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday. A man standing on the section of the bridge that collapsed was killed, according to Coast Guard spokesman Steve Lehmann.
The worker was later identified as Jose Armando Maqueda Mejia (El Guero), 42, of Manns Harbor died in the accident, according to an obituary posted Friday on OBX Today and Twiford Funeral Homes.
.
A spokesman for the N.C. Department of Transportation told The News & Observer that workers were dismantling the bridge when the accident occurred.
“They’re in the process of removing the last few sections of it at this point,” said NCDOT spokesman Tim Hass, before referring questions about the incident to the Dare County Sheriff’s Office.
Hass said the part of the bridge being dismantled is near the main channel of the inlet and doesn’t include a section at the south end that will become a fishing pier and pedestrian walkway later this year.
Mejia grew up in Mexico and moved to the United States when he was 18, the obituary said.
The obituary describes him as a dedicated father and husband who loved soccer and was always working. It also says he was known as the “shrimp man” and had a smile that would light up a room.
Oregon Inlet remained open to boat traffic, though there is a safety zone around the area where the incident occurred, said Lehmann, the Coast Guard spokesman.
Because the accident took place on the water, the Coast Guard will conduct an investigation, as will the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration. An OSHA spokesman said the agency has six months to determine whether the general contractor, PCL Civil Contractors Inc., should be cited as a result of the accident.
The Herbert C. Bonner Bridge was completed in 1963, connecting Hatteras Island with the mainland. It was named for the man who represented the area in Congress from 1940 until his death in 1965.
The bridge was replaced in 2019 by the 2.8-mile Marc Basnight Bridge, named for the former state Senate leader who represented the area in the Senate from 1984 until his resignation for health reasons in 2011. Basnight died in December at age 73.
This story was originally published April 14, 2021 at 7:59 PM with the headline "OSHA to investigate Bonner Bridge construction accident that killed worker."
.jpg)