KEARNEY, Mo. — A Moniteau County man was killed and three others injured Wednesday after a bridge under construction in Clay County collapsed.
Connor R. Ernst, 22, of California, Mo., was killed after the bridge collapsed while concrete was being poured on the deck. In addition to the fatality, three other employees of Lehman Construction Company were injured in the collapse.
According to a release by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were dispatched at 1:44 p.m. Wednesday to the scene at Northeast 148th Street and Shady Grove Road outside Kearney.
Sarah Boyd, a public information officer for the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, said the identities of the injured could not be released.
Boyd said a contract engineer from the engineering firm inspected the bridge prior to the pouring of the concrete. She said several workers reported hearing “popping, snapping sounds” while the concrete was being poured. The cause of the collapse is still unknown, she said. According to the release, the “Clay County Highway Department states there were no safety concerns on the project” prior to the accident.
Lehman Construction Company, of California, was awarded the bid in May 2021 for the total replacement of a one-lane wood bridge in rural Clay County that had been closed since 2016 due to safety concerns. The release said the bridge was expected to be complete in early 2023.
Boyd said 16 employees of Lehman Construction Company were on site when the collapse occurred. She said “at least one other contractor from a concrete company” was on the scene, and she was unsure if the engineer who inspected the bridge prior to the concrete pour was still on site.
Moving forward, Boyd said, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will be conducting an investigation into the collapse. She said the Clay County Sheriff’s Office provided “initial scene response and investigation” by taking photos and video of the scene and gathering witness testimonies, which will be turned over to OSHA.
According to reporting by KSHB-TV, Lehman Construction Company was fined $8,619 for a 2019 OSHA violation in Wentzville. The violation, labeled “serious,” was for “specific excavation requirements,” or water accumulation in trenches.
In a separate release by the Clay County government, the county “wishes to express its deepest condolences to Lehman Construction Company and the families of the workers involved following this afternoon’s bridge collapse at Northeast 148th Street.”
Boyd said a chaplain was on site after the incident to provide support to crew members.
Lehman Construction Company is providing a standard response to inquiries about the incident, stating its focus is on Ernst’s family.
Clarification: This story was originally published online with the headline "Moniteau County man killed in north Kansas City bridge construction accident." The accident occurred in rural Clay County, approximately 20 miles from North Kansas City.