1 killed, another injured in North Huntingdon construction accident

A construction worker was killed Tuesday after he was run over by a vehicle at a Route 993 bridge rehabilitation project in North Huntingdon, according to police Chief Robert Rizzo.

Brian Keefer, 53, of Indian Head, Fayette County, was identified by police as the worker who was killed.

A second construction worker was hurt and taken to AHN Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, where he was treated and released. Rizzo said it appears to have been a construction accident.

“They were doing some bridge work. It was like a cleaning machine; it moved forward, and then it moved in reverse,” Rizzo said.

Authorities spent hours at the scene after being called there just before 11 a.m. The Water Street bridge carries Route 993 over Brush Creek just outside Irwin and North Irwin. Construction work started Monday. The rehabilitation is part of a $3.13 million PennDOT project on six bridges in Westmoreland and Washington counties.

The work was contracted out to Gulisek Construction of East Huntingdon, according to PennDOT. Keefer and the injured worker were employees of the firm, Rizzo said.

Gulisek hired Hydro Technologies, Inc. as a subcontractor to operate a truck that uses high-pressure water to remove road surface, according to an OSHA spokesperson.

“The companies that are involved have been very cooperative,” he said.

State troopers assisted with accident reconstruction. Officials from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration were conducting an investigation, as are township detectives, Rizzo said.

Someone was behind the wheel of the construction vehicle involved at the time of the incident. On Tuesday afternoon, it was started for investigators to check its operation.

“The truck was just turned on to verify that the backup warning indicator was working, the backup lights were on,” Rizzo said.

It was unclear when bridge rehabilitation work would resume. It had been expected to last until early August. The road remains closed between Southside Road and Westmoreland Avenue.

The project includes repairing the bridge’s substructure, installing a foundation drain, adding a latex-modified concrete to the existing deck surface and improving the approaches, according to PennDOT.