BOSTON—AvalonBay Communities says it is cooperating with investigators that are now looking into the cause of Thursday morning's partial collapse of a rental apartment tower the firm is constructing at 45 Stuart St. here.
The Boston Fire Department states that a portion of the apartment tower under construction had collapsed Thursday morning. Fire officials say that the collapse occurred on the 12th floor of the planned 33-story tower and affected the building down to the fifth floor, according to the Boston Business Journal. Approximately 120 construction workers were at the job site when the accident took place. At press time, two non-life threatening injuries were reported. One injured person was treated and released at a local hospital, while another was admitted to Tufts Medical Center with a head injury and was listed in serious condition.
Michael Roberts, AvalonBay's VP for development, says the firm is fully cooperating with the Boston Fire Department investigation and is also in contact with OSHA representatives. Work began on the 398-unit twin tower building late last year.
Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald, says, “The construction team was able to use the on-site crane to move building materials—mostly steel—from the top floor to the ground. The workers are reinforcing the first, second, third and fourth floor and then they will put workers on the fifth floor to remove the debris. We don't know if it will be an easy job or not. Eventually OSHA will identify what happened and get the job site back open.”
He adds that the job site will be closed for a few days while investigators from the city, state and OSHA try to determine the cause of the collapse. See story in the Boston Business Journal.
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