Investigations continue into cause of fatal accident at Kenmore construction site

Investigations are under way to determine what led to yesterday’s fatal accident involving a 59-year-old construction worker at the North Kenmore Portal, where work is under way on a tunnel staging area for King County’s Brightwater Project.

David Keith of Everett was an employee of Vinci/Parsons /Frontier-Kemper, a joint venture that is under contract with King County to construct the central portion of the Brightwater conveyance tunnel.

The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries and the general contractor are conducting investigations into the accident.

The accident occurred just after 4 p.m. on Monday as Keith along with a crew of two other workers were preparing to install a 40-foot-long steel beam as part of sound barrier wall that encircles the construction site. The beam fell while it was being lifted into place by a crane, striking Keith and causing severe injuries.

Emergency personnel were immediately called to the accident site. Keith was transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he was pronounced dead at about 6 p.m.

The North Kenmore Portal is located at 80 th Ave. NE and NE 195 th Street in Kenmore.