Yesterday I learned about this incident and it is tragic to say the least. I feel for the family of this young man who passed to soon while working on a Saturday for his family's firm. What I would like to know is if anybody has any concrete information as to how and why this happened. I have heard too much speculation so far and I would like to heard facts. May he rest in peace. http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Man-killed-by-falling-industrial-pipe-4432443.php Ballston A Boston man died Saturday morning at a National Grid construction site when a 40-foot pipe weighing nearly a ton fell on him. Gary T. Feeney, 24, was fatally injured as he unloaded a tractor-trailer with other workers at a staging area on Route 67 in Ballston between Commerce Drive and East Line Road, State Police said. Feeney worked for Feeney Brothers Excavation Corp. of Boston's Dorchester section. National Grid hired the company to install a four-mile natural gas transmission line from one of its existing pipelines near the site to the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta. Feeney was holding a guide rope as the 1,700-pound pipe was being lifted off the truck by an excavator with steel cables and hooks, police said. The pipe was about 8 feet above the truck's load when its weight suddenly shifted, causing one of the hooks to come loose. The pipe fell and pinned Feeney to the ground. State Police arrived at the scene at 10:42 a.m. to find Feeney lying face down after other workers had removed the massive pipe. He was taken by ambulance to Saratoga Hospital and pronounced dead 38 minutes later. National Grid is building the $10 million gas line to accommodate expansion of the $7 billion GlobalFoundries computer chip factory at Luther Forest. "We extend our condolences to the contractor's family," National Grid spokeswoman Karen Young said Saturday. "National Grid is actively and completely cooperating with state and local authorities on their investigations." The state Public Service Commission, which oversees utilities, and OSHA are also conducting a joint investigation of the incident with National Grid. Winch Cat
My condolences to his family and friends.
You guys are gonna jump on me for saying this so soone, and it is a tragedy, but if it was rigged properly and proper due diligence put forth, it wouldn't have happened, and he would have went home from work and had supper with his family as usual. Pipe is very unpredicable. I refuse to lift it with an excavator or crane without a spreader bar, or hooks that will grab it at the ends. Simply choking it is a crap shoot with chain or sling in a bridal, if one slides, things go wrong quickly.