Bridge collapses in Naugatuck, worker injured

Naugatuck, Conn. (WTNH) - A 59-year-old construction worker from Middlebury was taken to the hospital in serious condition after a collapse at a bridge being replaced in Naugatuck, authorities said Tuesday.

It was 6:30 a.m. Tuesday and work was already going on to refurbish the Salem Bridge that takes Route 63 over the Naugatuck River in Naugatuck. There was a worker in a piece of machinery called an excavator up on top of the bridge. The bridge began to shake and the man driving the excavator on top told his foreman and everyone else they should get off the bridge.

"And no sooner did he communicate that information when the bridge began to go down as he was trying to get the machine off the collapsing portion of the bridge," state police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said.

That man was identified as Anthony Mariano of Middlebury. Police said he and the machine fell with the bridge. Mariano was taken away in serious but stable condition. He was the only person injured thanks mainly to the time of day.

A spokesman for the Department of Transportation told the Associated Press the injured worker was conscious and talking when he was taken to the hospital.

The bridge is next to Breen Field, the town ball fields, and after two p.m. there would have been school buses right where the debris fell.

"There would probably be buses right under that bridge because that was the long place for them to park," Georgette Lamoureux of Naugatuck said. "Somebody probably would have gotten really hurt."

"The other side is a couple more fields," Drew Laviolette said. "You've got Rotary field which is for hardball, baseball, the other they use for youth soccer league... My daughter's been on that for 7 years."

The AP said the injured man works for Southington-based Brunalli Construction, which has the contract to replace the bridge.

The state Fire Marshal's office and OSHA are now investigating. They'll take what's left of the bridge apart to find out what happened. The bridge had been under construction since last fall.

Construction crews worked on the far side first and let traffic drive on the near side, then last week, they switched. Naugatuck Mayor Robert Mezzo says that means just a few days ago traffic was using the part of the bridge that collapsed.

"I travel myself on that almost every day to get back to the part of town where I live and the eastbound lane was just completed," Mayor Mezzo said. "This lane was open for traffic essentially last week."

Route 63 in the area will remain closed until everything is deemed safe. Earlier in the morning the Route 8 South off ramp at Exit 26 in Naugatuck was temporarily closed. It has since reopened.

Also because of the emergency, buses are temporarily replacing trains on the Metro-North Waterbury branch. The schedule remains the same.

The investigation is expected to be lengthy, as the entire area will have to be mapped and measured. Also, the bridge will be disassembled and examined by investigators to determine exactly what occurred to make this bridge collapse.