ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 22, 1996 TAG: 9605220023
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
A Pembroke construction worker suffered lacerations when he fell face-first onto rocks below a bridge under construction over the New River Tuesday morning.
Joe Keffer, 22, fell 30 to 40 feet and suffered facial cuts, said 1st Lt. Rodney Freeman of the Giles County Rescue Department. The bridge is on Virginia 623
Keffer did not hit the water and did not lose consciousness, Freeman said. Rescue workers received the call at 9:07 a.m. and took Keffer to Giles Memorial Hospital, where he was under observation in the Emergency Department for several hours. Keffer was discharged Tueday afternoon in good condition with minor facial fractures, a hospital spokeswoman said.
"He had lots of cuts on his face and nose," Freeman said.
About 15 to 20 people were working on the bridge, and Keffer may have fallen when he stretched too far, Freeman said.
The $2.5 million bridge is to be completed this summer and will have 10-foot lanes and 6-foot shoulders. The steel-span bridge beside it may be removed once the Virginia Department of Transportation finds people or groups to take sections of it.
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