Construction Accident Lawyer’s Approach to Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Bridge Collapse

The tragedy of preventable construction accidents was repeated last week at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, a beautiful area near my home enjoyed by young and old alike. News reports have described the horror of one dead, and eighteen injured, many of them critically.
In our experience from having handled contruction accidents–including a much larger structure’s construction collapse during the building of Philips Arena that killed ironworkers erecting a section of precast concrete–the injured workers and their families are in a state of shock and confusion. They should have some medical care available through their workers’ compensation carrier, but that will not be enough to make up for what sound like very significant injuries. Nor will those benefits be enough to compensate the losses of the deceased worker.
A careful analysis must follow to determine the identity of all of the parties who had any role in the project, as well as the scope of the work undertaken by each of them, and the legal responsibilities imposed by contract or by law.
The plans and specifications prepared by the design professionals (architects and engineers), and the contracts and various subcontracts on the project must be obtained and scrutinized. Not only the contractor and subcontractors, but also any inspectors and consultants involved will have their roles reviewed, to determine what went wrong.
While some parties will have immunity under the workers’ compensation statute, others will not. Those who share responsibility presumably will have purchased insurance in planning for precisely this type of catastrophe, so that the losses can be reimbursed fairly. With so many claimants, however, careful review of the insurance coverage will be necessary in case there was insufficient liability insurance purchased to cover these tragic losses.
In the Philips Arena cases, the parties involved resolved the claims in the largest mediation ever held at Henning Mediation in Atlanta–48 people who spent many days, including with Judge Jerry Baxter, who was instrumental in helping get the cases resolved. The families were distressed by their losses, but felt that the legal system had treated them fairly.
Unfortunately, in our experience the families may be beset by unscrupulous persons hoping to take advantage of their shock–and some may be attorneys without the type of experience needed to represent these victims fully and fairly. We hope that the families of those injured consult with family and friends to find experienced attorneys who have had success in this area, and who will leave no stone unturned in representing their clients.
Footnote: According to news reports, architecture firm Jova/Daniels/Busby made this statement this morning:
“During the construction process, there are temporary components built and used to help erect and support the creation of a permanent structure such as the walkway being built at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. While the investigation underway will help us all understand what actually occurred, it is important for people to know that the permanent structure as designed by the architect and the engineers was not fully in place at the time of the accident.
“The temporary components that are under investigation were designed by a separate professional engineer working for the structural steel erectors. The temporary shoring would have been removed after the permanent structure was complete.”