Lawsuit Filed on Behalf of Construction Workers Killed in Wake Tech's Bridge Collapse in 2014

A Raleigh attorney has filed a lawsuit on behalf of construction workers killed or injured after an unfinished pedestrian bridge collapsed on Wake Tech's Northern Wake Campus in November 2014. The suit seeks financial damages in excess of $250,000 from two companies involved in the project: Clark Nexsen and Structurlam Products Limited. Clark Nexsen served as Architect of Record and Structurlam provided the laminated wood timbers for the bridge. The suit also names specific engineers and architects in the complaint.

Neither Wake Technical Community College nor Skanska USA — the project's "construction manager at risk" — were named in the suit.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of four men who were pouring concrete across the span of the bridge when it collapsed. State labor officials concluded in June 2015 that the collapses were caused by “design flaws” associated with notches in the bridge’s supporting girders.

According to the lawsuit, lead structural engineers overseeing the project had heard on numerous occasions concerns about the potential weaknesses of the notched-end connections, including recommendations from Skanska to reinforce the over-stessed beams.

(more on the accident and lawsuit...)