Preliminary investigations of the girder fall seems to demonstrate once again that it doesn’t matter how good your processes are if you don’t communicate well.
“The bridge at C-470 over I-70 looks like they hung a new I-beam girder in the last couple of days – well it’s rolled and it looks like it’s structurally unsafe over the freeway,” the unidentified caller reported on a 911 tape released by the State Patrol.
The State Patrol dispatcher asked, “So the sign is actually hanging down?”
The caller failed to correct her that it was a girder, not a sign. “Well, it’s more rolled toward the existing bridge, a good 2 or 3 feet,” the caller said. “It’s over the eastbound side of I-70. It may not be a big deal, but I’ve done bridge construction in the past, and it doesn’t look right.”
The dispatcher thanked the caller and notified the Jefferson County sheriff’s dispatcher, who in turn called the Colorado Department of Transportation. A maintenance crew found a sign in the C-470 median that was not posing a hazard. Thinking that was what the initial call was referring to, the crew radioed back that the situation was not dangerous, and it returned to its base without spotting the sagging girder.
A little more than 30 minutes later, the girder fell, instantly killing William J. Post, 34, his wife, Anita, 36, and their 2-year-old daughter, Koby Anne, who were traveling eastbound on I-70 in an SUV.
I don’t know what the SOP is at the 911 desk, but in a non-“There’s blood gushing out of my eyeballs!” sort of call, repeating back what you’ve been told, as a final wrap on the call, would seem to be in order.
Usually in order for most phone transactions and reports, as far as that goes.