Boston Water main break kills workers. 4

[oldestguy]

Not an engineering failure but of interest to engineers.

Something fishy here when trench box is needed after the fatality.

http://www.enr.com/articles/40685-boston-water-main-break-floods-trench-and-kills-two-workers

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Records show the company faces tens of thousands of dollars of unpaid fines for violations reaching back to at least 2012.

And yet they were allowed to continue operating as a business. <shakes head>

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[JStephen]

Just thinking about this again, it occurs to me that the slope-back angle varies depending on trench material, and if the cut is in solid rock, you don't need the trench box, if I remember right. That being the case, they MIGHT have been in compliance on that aspect; the failure wasn't a cave-in failure.

The unpaid fines/ violations- I would be curious what was going on there, I'd suspect that the fines were still being appealed or something like, but who knows.

 

[GroovyGuy]

Excavation was 12-15ft deep with no trench boxes! Un-fricken believable !

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
Winston Churchill

 

[LionelHutz]

"That being the case, they MIGHT have been in compliance on that aspect; the failure wasn't a cave-in failure."

The workers got trapped in a trench and drowned. The news reports say the recovering of bodies was difficult because it was being done on hands and knees in the trench box so they could dig the bodies out. That sounds like a cave-in to me.

It doesn't really matter if the cave-in happened before or after the water main broke. If it happened after, the workers might not have been trapped by the secondary cave-in if they were using a trench box.

 

[BigInch]

If it was rock, something I seem to remember is not so commom in Boston, it wouldn't have caved in even if wet.

Unpaid safety violations tells the greatest tale so far. I have a strong feeling that they have an endemic problem with safety.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Trust me, this was not solid rock. First off, since they were repairing an existing water line, it could not have been solid rock as it would had to have been previously excavated and refilled, unless those pipes were originally placed during some sort of tunneling effort. Second, from seeing maps showing what Boston looked like prior to the Revolution and comparing those maps with the current layout of the city, it's obvious that much of today's Boston was built on land that was back-filled and reclaimed from what was part of original harbor and lowlands. Here's a map showing the original shoreline of Boston as well as the current extents of the city:

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[BigInch]

I worked on a power plant proposal back in the 80s that was destined to go along the Charles River. Soil was not good at that site, as is true of much of Boston as I remembered, mostly from the mixing that had occured during the glacial epoch. I found this article describing the geology of Boston along with numerous historic incidents since the revolution. Surprisingly enough even material from the English Channel can be found today in certain deposits of Boston Harbor, left from dropped balast of cargo ships returning from England during WW I.

https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/1476/report.pdf

 

[MintJulep]

http://www.wcvb.com/article/company-owner-faces-criminal-charges-in-trench-deaths-of-workers/8693322

 

[JStephen]

That's the first time I've read what actually happened in the accident. Although, to be honest, it's still not entirely clear if shoring/trench box would have prevented it or not.

 

[hokie66]

JStephen,
A trench box may not have prevented the deaths, but the company and its owner would now be in a lot less trouble if they had used one.

 

[IRstuff]

Might have at least prevented the fire hydrant from breaking off and adding to the flood.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
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[BigInch]

"it's still not entirely clear if shoring/trench box would have prevented it or not. "

That's correct, but in no way is it an excuse for, nor does it forgive, not using one. Especially where using one appears to have been a no brainer for anyone operating outside the envelop of total incompetency.

Reaction to change doesn't stop it

 

[bimr]

"As they did so, the soil supporting a nearby fire hydrant began to fall away, quickly burying the men up to their waists."

If they were in a trench box, there is no way that the soil would have buried the men up to their waists.

In addition, it is likely that the pipes were unrestrained and the owners of this compmany lacked the experience for this type of work. Someone with experience with unrestrained pipes would have made sure the pipes were anchored prior to digging around the pipes.

 

[jayrod12]

A trench box would for damn sure of helped. The workers got trapped when the surrounding soil caved in around them up to their waists. If they had been working in a trench box, it would've prevented the cave-in from trapping the workers. Even if the hydrant still broke and flooded the trench, they would've been free to swim up.

This is a terrible tragedy, and I hope that something real comes out of the charges and not just fines/community service.

 

[BigInch]

Unfortunately the incompetents are the same ones that will never get the message. Much more effort needs to be spent on keeping the incompetents out of the business. The system must be either too dumb, or too corrupt, for the industry to handle on its own. It would seem that there are a number of simple criteria or tests that could be applied to these kinds of operators which would easily keep them out. A contractor safety record and fine database?

Reaction to change doesn't stop it

 

[bimr]

Atlantic Drain Service Co. Inc. has been cited for 18 violations by OSHA, and the company and owner now face charges of manslaughter in the deaths last year of two workers.

http://ehstoday.com/construction/cr...m=email&elq2=ea0887deb0b54ca0b7e529a821281a03

 

[rocklove]

We call trenches silent killers. We loose around 50 % of jobs due to safety built into our cost. But rather that, then your name in the mud and the fact that sloppy and cheap work killed your workers. We shore anything that's above knee deep. If you think we overkill, go make your own calculations on the total weight of material that can collapse even on a trench 1 meter deep and say the collapse is two meters in length.

 

[BigInch]

bimr thanks for the update.
Big talk. Let's see if it sticks. All too often its like water on a duck's back and these guys will skate away to kill again.

So evidence suggests that they knew what they were doing all along. H

Next problem to fix is ...
Massachusetts law currently caps corporate liability at $1,000 in the event of a manslaughter conviction. “That amount hasn’t been raised in almost 200 years, and it’s woefully inadequate to the circumstances of this case,” he noted.

Find what you like to do, earn a living at it, and then make your lifestyle fit your income. — Chuck Yeager

 

[BigInch]

Thanks for the update bimr.

That's sure big talk, except for the 1.5 MM fine, nothing short of rediculous.
Let's see if the charges stick.

Obviously time to change the damage limitation law. Tell me why exactly should there be any "cap" on damages. Why should killers have any protection?

Massachusetts law currently caps corporate liability at $1,000 in the event of a manslaughter conviction. “That amount hasn’t been raised in almost 200 years, and it’s woefully inadequate to the circumstances of this case,” he noted.

Wonder who's been contributing to the political's campaigns in MA for the last 200 years. Seems like that hasn't stopped and, could it be?, is at the route of the entire problem. What do you think we'd find there ... the reason that most of Boston was made on swampland.

Find what you like to do, earn a living at it, and then make your lifestyle fit your income. — Chuck Yeager

 

[rocklove]

Do not forget the client. As we speak we dealing with a client that want as cheap as possible work done. And believe me, that opens the doors to all sort of problems. When we sit in meeting with them, they keep throwing the issue of "they can get anther company to do it" on the table. My answer is. Fine, why wasting our time. Tomorrow they back at our door. But we also have a responsibility to our fellow business entities and to make sure somebody do not set a foot in this trap. Difficult times.