A worker fell about four stories from the construction site of Gates Hall and was hospitalized Thursday morning, according to University officials.
At 9:45 a.m., Scott Eckert –– an employee of Capital Construction, a subcontractor in the construction of the Bill and Melinda Gates Hall –– fell from one of the upper levels of the site, according to Joe Schwartz, public information officer for the University.
Eckert, 43, was climbing a ladder to access a higher level of the construction site when the bottom of the ladder “kicked out” and collapsed from underneath him, according to Schwartz. Eckert then fell, landing on a concrete surface.
Eckert was conscious at the scene, according to Schwartz.
“Police said he was alert … and talking to them,” Schwartz said.
Eckert was transported to the State University of New York Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, N.Y. for treatment. Schwartz did not have information about Eckert’s condition.
Schwartz said that, after the accident, police closed traffic for about 30 minutes on Hoy Road, where the construction of Gates Hall –– a $60 million building for the Department of Computing and Information Sciences –– is ongoing.
Construction was halted for about an hour while Eckert was removed from the scene and placed in an ambulance, Schwartz said.
Original Author: Kerry Close