Hospital project stopped pending engineers' probe

The construction cranes at Southeast Missouri Hospital's new parking garage remained still Wednesday, a day after a concrete slab accidentally dropped on a worker.

The 1700 block of Broadway was cordoned off and traffic routed around the construction site, where work has ceased pending completion of an investigation into the stability of the structure.

Sam Scholl of Cape Girardeau was initially taken to the hospital with leg injuries after a concrete flooring section being hoisted onto the third floor of the garage fell on him. Hospital officials confirmed that Scholl has since been transferred to St. Louis University Hospital.

Southeast officials referred questions about the incident to Kiefner Bros., the local construction company heading up the project.

Tom Kiefner with Kiefner Bros. said construction continued Wednesday on the medical office building being built next to the garage and that the delay with the parking garage will not impact the completion date of the project.

"We have a plan in place to shore up and remove the damaged areas and replace them," Kiefner said. "Our safety people are cooperating with OSHA and they're investigating as we speak."

Cape Girardeau Fire Department assistant chief Mark Hasheider said the reopening of Broadway is dependent on engineers from the construction company assembling the garage and engineers from the company building the components of the garage off-site agreeing that the structure is stable.

"Those two companies are conferring right now and we're looking for a consensus," Hasheider said.

Broadway remains closed from Penny Lane east to Perry Avenue, allowing construction workers time to remove damaged parts of the garage safely. The detour is routed from Penny Lane north to Cecelia Street, east to Perry Avenue and south to Broadway. Hasheider said Broadway is expected to reopen Friday morning.

A report released by the fire department said the accident occurred as a construction crane was setting a reinforced concrete floor section onto the third floor of the garage. The crane tipped forward and the operator released the concrete to prevent the crane from tipping into the garage.

The concrete fell onto Scholl, who was working on the third floor.

cclark@semissourian.com

335-6611, ext. 128