Geology and Soil Mechanics, UW-Stout
Excavation Accidents
Sand hill gives way, kills boy
Pioneer Press, 2002
"Jacob Christiansen was killed Wednesday after a cliff-like sand hill gave way and trapped the boy underneath several feet of sand..." "He and two other boys - ....were playing on the hill at an excavation site at about 9pm when part of the sand wall collapsed, pouring sand on them....A short time later, a second sand slide trapped Christiansen inside."
Three Brothers Die in a Well
Yahoo News, April 11, 2001
"Apparently, one of them dropped something to the bottom and went down there to pick it up but fainted there, so his brother descended to check on him and also lost consciousness. And then it was the third brothers' turn." All three brothers were grown-ups and all three died. The cause of the accident was apparently gas poisoning.
Echo Park Trench Cave-in Kills Construction Worker
Los Angeles Times, April 12, 1996
Alfredo Luna, 28, was killed in trench after a cave-in buried him up to his chin. He was barley breathing when more than 40 firefighters, paramedics, and search-and-rescue team members arrived on the scene. However, Luna died a few minutes later due to the weight of the soil inflicting a "tremendous squeezing pressure" on his body. It took firefighters more than three hours to recover Luna's body from the trench.
Teen Killed When Trench CollapsesA Lawrenceville, GA, 16 year old died when a trench collapsed and buried
him under 5 ft of dirt. The boy was trapped under several hundred pounds of soil for
about ten minutes as his father tried to dig him out with a backhoe. Nearby
residents rushed to the site and dug furiously with their hands and shovels before his
head and chest were freed. Firefighters administered CPR, but were unable to revive
the boy, who later died at Gwinett Medical Center. Fire officials found no
protective systems in the trench, which was being dug to lay a new septic system.
Comment: U.S. dept. of Labor regulations consider trench work to be dangerous.
No one under 18 is allowed to do it.
This article reports that three men were killed and three others injured by toxic fumes that filled a pit they were excavating at a metal company plant in McCook, IL. The Reynolds plant manufactures sheet and plate metal components for automobiles and aircraft.
Manslaughter Charge Filed Over Death in Trench CollapseThis article reports that the Los Angeles County district attorney's office filed a manslaughter charge against a plumbing subcontractor who allegedly failed to reinforce a 10-foot-deep trench before its walls collapsed, killing one worker and injuring another. The charge against the independent sewer and plumbing contractor carries a maximum sentence of four years in state prison. The 51 year old worker died seven hours after he had been buried in dirt for 30 minutes. His co-worker suffered a broken pelvis while attempting to rescue him...Failure to reinforce the trench walls was "a clear case of cutting corners to cut costs", state the district attorney.
5/7/96, Plover, WI
A 23-year-old worker died in an 11-foot-deep trench when sandy soil gave way at the site.
He was installing a sewer line at the time. Co-workers were able to free him, but he was
pronounced dead on arrival at a nearby hospital.
3/7/96, Layton, UT
A trench cave-in which buried a 20-year-old worker up to his waist was followed by a water
pipe rupture. Some 50,000 gallons of water filled the 25-foot deep hole, drowning
the man as fellow workers attempted vainly to pull him out with a rope. Two hours later,
when the water had been pumped out of the hole, emergency personnel found the victimıs
body with one leg wedged tightly beneath the broken 6-inch water pipe. The other leg was
wedged beneath a new water pipe that he had been installing. A early account said his
co-workers may have been digging around him with a backhoe to free him when the water pipe
ruptured. However, the co-workers denied this, saying they used only hand shovels.