Seattle tunnel subcontractor cited, fined for accident

SEATTLE (AP) — Safety regulators have issued two citations and a $2,050 fine against the subcontractor overseeing workers injured when a wall in the north portal of the Seattle tunnel project collapsed.

The Alaskan Way Viaduct is being replaced with a two-mile long tunnel under downtown Seattle.

The Department of Labor and Industry says Central Steel Inc. was cited for failing to ensure pieces of rebar set up to prevent workers on walls directly above the exposed bar from potentially getting impaled. Inspectors found the dangerous rebar set-up while inspecting the site of the Feb. 12 accident in which four ironworkers fell, sending one to the hospital. That violation came with a $1,000 fine.

A second citation found Central Steel failed to make sure its employees "had significantly tied back the rebar curtain, which supported their weight, as the performed a reinforcing wall installation." The company was fined $1,050 for that violation.