LA CROSSE, Wis. — Investigators continued to work today at the scene where a 19-year-old construction worker fell 45 feet into a cofferdam on the Interstate 90 bridge that spans the Mississippi River.
Logan Scott Goodell, of Wheeler, Wis., was identified by authorities as the Ames Construction worker who suffered life-threatening injuries on Wednesday. Ames is the contractor at the site. Goodell was transported via Tri-State Ambulance to Gunderson Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse for care along with his father — who also was working on site, according to Nate Melby, fire chief for the town of Campbell, Wis. La Crosse is three miles east of the bridge.
A hospital spokesperson said this morning that Goodell's family has requested that no information be released about his condition. However, the spokesperson said that may change within the next 24 hours.
Rescue crews used a boat on Wednesday morning from the Minnesota side of the river to reach the worker, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Crews used a rescue basket and crane to reach the man in the cofferdam. A cofferdam creates a temporary watertight enclosure that is pumped dry to expose the bottom of the river to allow for construction, according MnDOT.
At the time of the incident, Goodell was part of a five-person crew installing concrete forms. Melby said Goodell attempted to step backward before falling. It's unclear what safety precautions were being used by the construction workers at the time of the incident. An Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigator was sent to the scene.
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The Dresbach Bridge is a 2,497-foot steel girder bridge on I-90 at the Minnesota-Wisconsin border carrying four lanes of traffic. It is undergoing a $175 million to $225 million replacement project by Ames Construction. It is the first "lost-time accident" incident on the construction site, said Mark Anderson, of MnDOT.
"In the weeks and months leading up to this construction, we have had extensive pre-incident planning conversations with Ames Construction, including several meetings with Ames’ Safety Teams and local emergency services," Melby said via statement. "The on-scene cooperation and planned response between emergency services and Ames Construction at the scene worked very well as a result of this planning.
"As far as what went wrong, I don't know."
Campbell is a town on French Island, Wis. The department covers large areas of the Mississippi River and Lake Onalaska, and focuses on ice and water rescue.
