Body of missing bridge worker pulled from St. Lawrence River
Construction worker identified as 44-year-old man from Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac
The body of a construction worker who fell into the St. Lawrence River after the bridge platform he was working on collapsed has been pulled from the water.
The Sûreté du Québec says the body of the 44-year-old man from Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac was found at around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Police haven't released the man's name. The body was recovered by search crews from the CSST, Quebec's workplace health and safety board.
The man fell into the water after the hanging scaffolding unhooked from the edge of the Champlain ice bridge around 12:20 p.m.
The ice bridge, which includes a pedestrian and bicycle path, is just west of the main Champlain structure and serves to break up springtime ice. It has been closed to traffic since July to allow construction workers to reinforce the deck.
Harness would have been required, CSST says
Jean-François Séguin, who also worked at the site, told reporters workers normally aren't required to wear a harness to work on the platform and a life jacket also isn't required.
He said workers relied on guard rails to keep them safe.
Séguin said he didn't witness the accident himself because he was working with another crew.
However, Julie Casaubon, an inspector with the CSST, said the worker should have been wearing a harness in this case, because the guard rails were down while the platform was in the process of being moved.
She said it's unclear whether the worker was actually wearing one when the platform came unhinged.
Ice bridge closed for search
Construction work and access to the ice bridge, including the pedestrian walkway, bike path and commuter shuttle service, was suspended Tuesday due to the accident.
Also known as the estacade, the ice bridge was built in 1964-65 to help break up potential ice jams.
According to the Jacques-Cartier and Champlain Bridge Corporation, the structure "runs parallel to the Champlain Bridge about 1,000 feet (305 m) upstream. It is 6,700 feet (2,043 m) long and extends west-east between Nuns' Island and the St. Lawrence Seaway."
