QUEENSBORO BRIDGE RESCUE
BY PHIL RUVELO
At 1330 hours on September 29, 1997, the City of New York (NY) Fire Department (FDNY) Rescue 1 was called to respond to the Queensboro Bridge, where a worker reportedly had fallen from the bridge into the East River. As standard procedure, two members started to don dive gear. Additional reports received en route indicated that scaffolding had collapsed and several workers were hanging from the bridge.
SCAFFOLDING BUCKLES
The Queensboro Bridge connects Manhattan to the Borough of Queens. It is a major artery for thousands of daily commuters. The bridge, erected in 1901 at a time when ornate ironwork was stylish, was undergoing major renovations in the area under the lower road-way. To accomplish this, 20-foot-wide scaffolding had been erected parallel to and on the edge of each side of the road-way. Once the scaffolds were in place, two barge cranes lifted prefabricated scaffold sections 80 feet long and four feet wide, placed them perpendicular to the roadway, and connected them to the 20-foot-wide edge scaffolding. This system allowed workers full access to the entire area below the bridge.
While one of the prefabricated scaffold sections was being attached, the scaffold suddenly buckled midway, leaving three workers hanging by their safety lanyards. One of the workers, unfortunately, was killed instantly; he was caught between the collapsing scaffold section and an I-beam.
THE RESCUES
The First Rescue
On arrival at the scene, construction workers waved us up to the bridge`s lower roadway to a position approximately 150 feet from the Manhattan shoreline and 180 feet above the water.
On learning that the workers were in two different locations, we split our available personnel with Ladder Company 16, which was assigned to remove the deceased victim and his distraught coworker, who was hanging from the collapsed section of scaffolding by his safety lanyard. After convincing the suspended worker to attach his harness to their secured rope, Ladder 16 members hauled the distraught worker up. They then recovered the body of his coworker.
The Second Rescue
Rescue 1 undertook the rescue of the two victims who were farther into the center area of the bridge. After all members donned high-angle rope harnesses, rescuers dropped down a 24-inch manway on the edge of the roadway that led to an I-beam. They crawled over the I-beam to a five-foot drop to the scaffold on the outermost edge of the bridge. Approximately 20 feet from this access point, they dropped down to another scaffold exactly like the one that had collapsed.
They traversed this second scaffold to a third scaffold that ran five feet above, down the center of the bridge. The headroom in this area was 30 inches, so rescuers had to crawl the last 50 feet to the two victims suspended from the scaffold by their lanyards. After reaching them, rescuers locked onto an overhead I-beam and pulled them to safety by their lanyards.
The first victim was pulled up and assisted to the roadway. The second victim complained of pain in his back. Consequently, he was placed on a backboard, diamond-lashed into a stokes stretcher, dragged the 50 feet back to the second scaffold, and then hand-carried back to the outermost edge of the bridge. There, other members of Rescue 1 had set up a 4:1 mechanical advantage hauling system. The victim was hauled horizontally up 20 feet to the edge of the roadway, where an ambulance was waiting.
The assistance of the iron workers at this operation was invaluable. They directed rescuers into the proper area and assisted in all aspects of the operation.
POINTS TO CONSIDER
1. What caused the scaffold to collapse? Are all the scaffolds now suspect?
2. The logistics of getting equipment from the roadway to the site of the operation through constrictive spaces were challenging.
3. Breaking the rescue into sectors allowed for simultaneous rescues.
4. Ensure that the ambulance awaiting the victim(s) has a clear route for leaving the scene.
5. Conducting a “what-if” critique proved to be prophetic. In the next five months, three more incidents occurred at this site. First, a crane lifting scaffolding struck a cable car that runs along one side of the bridge. Second, a ship struck and damaged the bridge structure. Finally, in February 1998, a worker became trapped below in the middle of the roadway, without a way off, when his scaffold slid away. That worker was removed by a crane with a man-basket affixed. n
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The Queensboro Bridge. (Photos by author.)
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Typical scaffolding used for underbridge repair includes 134-inch angle iron with 2 2 6 wood decking and corrugated aluminum.
PHIL RUVELO, a 20-year veteran of the City of New York (NY) Fire Department (FDNY), is a captain assigned to Rescue Company 2 and has been a member of the New York City Special Operations Command for the past eight years. He is a member of the NYTF-1 FEMA Team, a New York State confined space instructor, a high angle rope instructor, and an instructor at the New York City Fire Department Technical Rescue School.
