Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 21, 1994 TAG: 9404210232
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But Joel Rodney Lewis of Radford died as tons of crumbling dirt continued to collapse around him.
"I heard the guys holler, 'It caved in,'" said co-worker James L. Stigger. "Then me and two other guys got [Lewis'] head so he could breathe."
When state Trooper R.J. Carpentieri reached the scene, on Alternate U.S. 220 near U.S. 460, Lewis was alive but unconscious.
Lewis had ventured into the12-foot-deep trench to adjust a sewer line around 11 a.m., Stigger said. At the time, Stigger was preparing a trench box, a metal enclosure that prevents the dirt from falling in on ditch workers.
The enclosure is one of many safety requirements for digging ditches more than 5 feet deep, according to a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry, which enforces occupational safety and health regulations. Investigators from the Roanoke office were inspecting the scene Wednesday.
Lewis and Stigger both worked for Lewis Construction Inc., a New River Valley-based company owned by the victim's brother, Walter Lewis. The owner had no comment late Wednesday. Stigger said that Joel Lewis crawled his way into the trench to speed up the pipeline adjustment.
"There's always something that can happen," said Stigger, who has worked at the company for six years. "This one move [Lewis] made in there was poor judgement on his part."
About 75 rescue workers responded within minutes, methodically preparing wooden planks to seal the dirt walls, so they could safely reach the victim. Alternate U.S. 220 - also known as Cloverdale Road and formerly called Virginia 604 -was closed to traffic between U.S. 460 to U.S. 11 for much of the day. Fire officials feared that vibrations from passing vehicles could cause additional dirt to collapse.
The process was painstakingly slow for rescuers, who came from Troutville, Roanoke County, Roanoke and Salem. More than three hours into the rescue, Lewis was found dead.
"We're used to going in quick," said Larry Logan, deputy fire chief of Roanoke County. "But in a particular case like this, we can't do that, for the victim's sake and our own. When something like this happens it affects us, because everything we did was to no avail."
Workers from Lewis Construction and Branch Highways are finishing the widening of Alternate U.S. 220 to four lanes for the Virginia Department of Transportation. When workers widen roads, they often replace or adjust existing utilities, said Jeff Echols, resident engineer at VDOT. The project began in November, was interrupted by the fierce winter weather and had started up again at the end of March.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB