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Fatal fall of concrete slabs: authority assumes “deliberate defective construction”
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Tons of concrete slab falls on car – driver dies
On the A3 in the direction of Oberhausen, a car was hit by a noise barrier wall block weighing several tons. Polo’s driver died at the crash site.
A piece of concrete breaks loose from the acoustic barrier and kills a driver. The highway construction authority blames faulty construction. The assembly was deliberately not conducted properly, making the accusation serious.
northAfter the fatal accident with a concrete slab of a soundproofing wall on the A3 near Cologne, Straßen.NRW assumes a “defect caused on purpose”. During the 2007 assembly, the plate was not placed correctly due to lack of space, the state-owned company announced on Tuesday after the first investigations.
According to information from dpa, the experts do not assume criminal intent, but rather conscious improvisation. Since something apparently did not fit during installation, it was made to fit on purpose, regardless of structural specifications.
The concrete slab came loose on Friday and crashed into the car of a 66-year-old woman from Cologne who died at the crash site. According to the information provided by the state company, the panel was not properly anchored during assembly in 2007. According to this, a welded screw was not adequate to absorb the tensile forces of the piece of four to five tons of reinforced concrete.
The construction carried out by a contracted company does not correspond to the previous plans, according to the highway construction authority. The same construction was installed on six other noise protection panels, which will now be removed as quickly as possible. Until then, the two outer lanes must remain closed. Straßen.NRW also noted that the lack of construction could not be noticed during the checks due to its hidden location.
An acute danger cannot be assumed to exist with similar structures, he said Tuesday. However, the authority is checking whether there are other noise barriers with similar constructions in North Rhine-Westphalia. The prosecution has initiated a process for negligent homicide, initially against unknown persons.
