An I-4 Ultimate construction worker has died after a rebar cage fell and struck him in Orlando, officials said.
SGL Constructors, the P3 joint venture operating the project on I-4, said Michael Tolman, 56, died after being struck around 9:45 a.m. Thursday at an I-4 west on-ramp at South Street near the Amway Center. Tolman was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center in critical condition and later died, officials said.
A cap (rebar) cage is essentially the skeleton of whatever is being built. A steel cage is constructed, wood is placed around it to make a mold and concrete is poured into it. The rebar was seen left dangling by a crane at an angle.
A witness said it was windy when crews were trying to move the rebar, but it is unknown whether that played a factor in the incident. OSHA is investigating, and officials said they are in the preliminary stages of their investigation.
I-4 Ultimate is a $2 billion, at least six-year project that will transform a 21-mile stretch of the highway from Kirkman Road to S.R. 434. The project began in 2015.
This is the third fatality on the I-4 project where a worker has been struck. In 2016, one worker was hit by a truck and another died after being struck by a piece of falling steel.
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Source: WKMG-TV / Construction Dive
