KOZK Tower Collapse Liability Issue Settled

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UPDATE A settlement has been reached in the matter of the 2,000 foot TV tower collapse that resulted in a fatality back in April 2018, reports the Springfield News-Leader. A $3.2 million global settlement has been agreed upon covering claims and lawsuits from numerous parties. Final payment of the claims now rests with the insurances.

The site was located on the campus of Missouri State University (MSU) in Springfield, MO although the college disavowed any liability on their part. MSU General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer Rachael Dockery said, “The university, through its liability carrier, contributed zero dollars and zero cents to that settlement, which is appropriate because we were not at fault.” 

The $3.2 million settlement will address various claims involving Tower Consultants, Inc., the company that contracted for the original job, according to the Springfield News-Leader. Dockery said she was glad that MSU’s involvement in the matter had been settled, saying, “We don’t have to wait for the court to allocate where the money goes. We get out before then, so that’s very good news.” 

 The OSHA investigation on the incident determined the following:

  1. TCI’s suggested diagonal replacement procedure was flawed in that it compromised the effectiveness of the integrated surrounding braces and the load bearing capacity of the tower legs. A single diagonal brace could not be removed without affecting the integrity of the redundant brace because the braces share two common bolts at the diagonal/redundant connection. 
  2. The cause of the communication tower collapse was the weakening of the compressive strength of the tower legs by removing the bolts at the connection of the diagonals to the horizontal redundant. The compromised redundant effectively doubled the unbraced length of the tower leg which reduced the compressive capacity of the tower leg. 
  3. Lemay used an undersized come-a-long while removing the diagonal braces. 
  4. Lemay failed to provide the design of the required temporary frame for diagonal replacement above or below a guy level. TCI failed to confirm the use/design of a temporary frame as TCI is required to approve the adequacy of the temporary frame prior to diagonal replacement according to TCI’s construction documentation.  See full OSHA report here.

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