The Bonney Lake community is reeling from a tragedy Monday when a concrete wall fell from the state Route 410 overpass onto the road below, crushing a truck and the family inside.
Josh and Vanessa Ellis, with their 8-month old son Hudson, were driving north on Angeline Road when the concrete wall, which was as long as the road is wide, fell onto their vehicle around 10:15 that morning.
Josh and Vanessa Ellis were youth pastors at the Eastpointe Foursquare Church, which currently operates out of Cascade Christian Schools in Sumner.
“To see such promising lives cut short – a father, mother, and young son – lives serving and loving the youth of our community gives us deep sorrow,” Bonney Lake Mayor Neil Johnson said in a press release Tuesday. “We trust God that they are in a better place.”
The construction project underway on SR 410 is to widen the overpass and install a sidewalk for pedestrians and bicyclists to cross the overpass safely, according to Bonney Lake City Clerk Woody Edvalson.
Edvalson said the city is not aware of why the concrete wall fell, and said the city will learn more after the police finish their investigation.
Edvalson also said police interviewed workers on the scene.
According to Edvalson, there was no anticipated danger to motorists on Angeline road, which is why the road remained open during construction.
“They did have flaggers on site. They anticipated that later in the day, the work they would be doing then to remove the barrier would require some temporary alternating lane closures on Angeline,” Edvalson said. “So they had flaggers on site, but they weren’t active because it wasn’t anticipated by the contractor that the work they were doing would result in anything that – certainly nothing like what happened now – that there was any danger to passing motorists.”
The sidewalk project, which was awarded to WHH Nisqually Federal Services on Dec. 13, 2014, started construction after Feb. 7.
WHH Nisqually Federal Services hired several sub-contractors, including Staton Companies Inc. out of Portland, Ore.
The Washington Department of Labor and Industries is investigating all the sub-contractors involved with the SR 410 project.
The Washington Department of Labor and Industries issued Staton Companies three violations in 2012 for workplace safety and health violations.
Two of the violations were for not ensuring a fall protection plan was developed and implemented, and there were no fall restraint or arrest systems in place at the work site.
The third violation was for not using US Coast Guard approved life jackets while workers worked over water.
Although each of the violations were deemed “serious” by Labor and Industries, two of the three violations carried a small $100 fine, and documents show the corrections were quickly installed.
Staton Companies’ media contact Pat Walsh released a statement to the press on April 14.
“All of us at Staton Companies are sad today because of yesterday’s tragic accident that occurred on a work site in Bonney Lake, Washington. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Ellis family and with all those involved,” the statement read. “What happen to cause this accident is not yet known. Out of respect for all involved, we will have no further information to offer until the investigation is completed.”
The estimated cost of the SR 410 project was $1.8 million, according to Edvalson.
Construction on the project has been temporarily halted to allow for further investigation and review of construction practices and procedures, according to the April 14 press release.
