(The following article by Dave Phillips was posted on the Orange Bulletin website on June 23.)
EAST HAVEN, Conn. — A Woodbridge man working on the I-95 construction project on Frontage Road was killed early Wednesday morning when the manlift he was on was hit by a Connecticut Department of Transportation test train traveling at 67 miles an hour.
Gregory Roberts, 47, of 81 Orchard Road in Woodbridge who had worked for O&G Industries of Torrington since 2000, was fatally injured at approximately 3:45 a.m. He suffered blunt body trauma and was pronounced dead at the scene by East Haven medical personnel. Two other workers suffered non-life threatening injuries. One man bailed out of the area and received some scrapes, while another powered out of the area and was able to avoid injury.
O&G Industries had a night crew of carpenters working over the Amtrak tracks on Frontage Road. In accordance with contract specifications, there was an Amtrak flagman and a ground crew present during the entire work shift. At about 3:45 a.m., an unscheduled test train hit a hydraulic manlift with three workers in it. O&G spokesman Ken Merz said the preliminary investigation indicated all personnel were tied off in accordance with OSHA regulations.
According to Amtrak spokesman Dan Stessel, the test train was on its way back to New Haven after conducting tests on the railroad east of New Haven when it hit the manlift at milepost 77.68, killing Roberts.
The equipment was mangled so severely that a blue forklift used to raise equipment to the bridge above the Route 1 roadway was bent to the left around a concrete support beam that holds the bridge above it. A manlift was also badly damaged, as was the engine of the train.
Grief counseling was available for O&G employees at the site of the accident.
“Everybody is a little bit on edge,” said Connecticut Department of Transportation construction project manager Chris Gallucci. “When someone goes down like that, everyone is upset.”
Prior to the work being started, a Class A electrician terminated electricity to the area at about 11 p.m. O&G workers in the vicinity of high voltage power lines began removing timbers of wood underneath the I-95 project.
“Without electricity, no electric trains can go through, but instead a diesel test train came around the corner,” said East Haven Assistant Fire Chief Paul Cahill, who could not recall such an accident, only kids being hit by a train about 15 years ago. “When it hit, it also hit the lumbers, the wood and the boom, the whole upper section and propelled into three bays down. The train continued forward, striking the other manlift with two employees in it. Another manlift from the other side was struck, but a worker powered away as fast as possible.”
Electricity had been shut off to the area at approximately 11 p.m. Tuesday night so that work could be completed in the area. However, not all trains run on electricity. Some are diesel-powered, including the test train.
“We’re investigating why the message didn’t get through that this train was coming,” said Gallucci. “There is a central controller who controls all the movements. If there is something coming, they notify the flag man on duty. That must have broken down because that information didn’t get through.”
Work on the I-95 construction project was halted in the area for the remainder of the week.
“It’s a tragic accident, really,” said Gallucci. “Amtrak has a very high safety standard, but we’re trying to find out what happened. If we find a gap was there, we will make certain it doesn’t happen again.”
The railroad was totally shutdown in the area for part of Wednesday morning during the initial response and investigation. At 8:45 a.m., Track 1 was restored with a 5-mile-an-hour hour restriction.
“At that time of the morning, we can run with just one track,” said Stessel. “By that time, the damage was done for six trains with delays from 20 minutes to four hours.”
The longest delay was the Washington to Boston train, which was held in new Haven for four hours. Shoreline East also had four trains cancelled as a result of the accident. Complete service was restored at 12:10 p.m.