A construction worker was killed and three people inside the vehicles were injured April 4 when a section of a tower crane at a construction site in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fla., plummeted several hundred feet meters to an active street below.
According to Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue, the incident occurred around 4:30 pm during a crane pass operation on a residential tower being built by West Palm Beach-based KAST Construction. Witnesses say the crane section struck a car crossing the Southeast Third Avenue Bridge over the New River, then bounced off the structure and came to rest on a second vehicle.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Chief Stephen Gollan told reporters that the incident may have been the result of a failure of the equipment platform, rather than a failure of the crane itself, as which was being extended by another floor. The worker, identified by Fort Lauderdale police as Jorge De La Torre, 27, fell with the load from the platform on the side of the building and died from his injuries, Gollan added. Two of the three injured victims, all occupants of the vehicles, were taken to a nearby hospital. The third suffered only minor injuries and refused treatment.
The impact created a small hole in the drawbridge, which was closed for several hours. After a structural inspection by the Florida Department of Transportation, the bridge reopened later that evening.
The project, called Gables Riverwalk, is a 43-story, 493-foot-tall tower designed for nearly 300 senior housing units. The $151 million project also includes a seven-story podium, restaurant/retail space and parking. The tower crane supporting the construction was to be 710 feet tall, according to an application submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration before construction began in October 2021.
Activity at the site has been shut down pending an investigation by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which will include Kast Construction, Phoenix Rigging & Erecting of Atlanta, Ga., and Maxim Crane Works, based in Jessup, Maryland. None of the companies have done it. commented on the incident. Fort Lauderdale police are conducting an independent investigation into the worker’s death.
