After 15 years in the construction industry, Carla Vandiver has experienced her share of bad days. But she said April 13 was not just a bad day. It was the worst day of her life.
That was the day a concrete barrier fell off a State Route 410 overpass in Bonney Lake. It landed on top of a pickup carrying Josh and Vanessa Ellis and their 8-month-old son, Hudson. The family was killed instantly.
Vandiver worked as a traffic control supervisor on that project for WHH Nisqually. Vandiver was not on the overpass. She was down on the road below.
She said the project superintendent never told her to stop traffic, so she didn't.
"We were ready. We had the signs up. We had our paddles in place," Vandiver said.
Now she lives with the heartbreak.
"That was the worst day of my life because I knew somebody's family member was in that truck," Vandiver said, crying. "I just didn't know who."
Vandiver said the plan called for a saw cutter to cut through the whole base of the barrier horizontally. After they cut through the base, Vandiver said they were going to make vertical cuts, breaking the barrier into smaller chunks.
"Their exact words were they told me they were going to make their cuts underneath then they were going to track an excavator out onto the bridge, grab a hold of it, cut a cut, load it on the truck -- grab a hold of it, make another cut, load it on the truck," Vandiver said. "That was their words."
Vandiver said the plan was followed but she believes it was a bad plan.
"Because of the vibration on the bridge from the traffic going over it, things move," Vandiver said. "Without it being tied off, when he cut the bottom loose, there was nothing holding it up there."
She said she believes someone should pay for this accident but she doesn't think it should be the construction workers who executed the plan. It should be the people who came up with it.
"The saw cutters don't get a plan and then just go up and do it however they want. They wouldn't have a job. They do exactly what their bosses tell them to do," Vandiver said. "It's the ones that are higher up. They're the ones who messed up."
Vandiver said she feels terrible for the Ellis family and thinks of them daily. She shook with emotion in her eyes as she spoke of that tragic day.
Vandiver no longer works for WHH Nisqually but she says it's not because of the accident. She said she was not going to keep her full-time status after the completion of the sidewalk project.
The investigation is ongoing. No fines or penalties have been announced yet.
