Cable central to boating accident was not marked
Fruitland’s Aaron T. Grant died in accident last week
By Katie Pizza
Argus Observer
Friday, June 27, 2008 10:08 AM PDT
Weiser — A cable stretched across the Snake River that apparently produced a deadly accident last week was not marked, according to Washington County Sheriff Marv Williams.
“We marked it,” he said. “Law enforcement did. The bridge was marked as a hazard, the cable itself was not marked.”
Fruitland resident, Aaron T. Grant, 36 died in the mishap. Two other occupants in a jetboat with Grant were not injured in the accident.
The steel cable, extended across the river at the Annex/Weiser bridge, is part of a project to build a new span by the Idaho Transportation Department.
Idaho Transportation Department Public Affairs Specialist Mollie McCarty said the bridge had large orange construction barrels descending from the structure to mark the area. She also said ITD will continue to look into the accident.
“Anytime a significant accident occurs at one of our projects we do an investigation to look at any improvements,” McCarty said.
McCarty said ITD worked with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Malheur County Sheriff’s Office and Boise-based Slepten Construction in order to evaluate potential safety issues since the beginning of the project.
The bridge replacement and widening, with a $10 million dollar pricetag, has been under construction since March 10. Construction is slated to be completed in 2010, according to ITD documents.
McCarty said she would not know if a marker should have been placed in the area until the Washington County Sheriff’s Office’s investigation, as well as ITD’s own investigation of the incident, is complete. She also said a number of ITD representatives have been to the scene since the accident.
“It’s been a number of individuals at several different times,” she said. “It’s usually very soon after the accident that we have our staff visit the site.”
McCarty called ITD’s investigation of the incident an “open process.”
“We want to collect as much information as we can to make sure it’s operating as safe as possible,” she said.
InternDave wrote on Jul 29, 2008 8:40 AM:
David N. "