A construction worker was rescued by Spring Hill firefighters Wednesday afternoon after a controlled bridge demolition went awry, leaving the worker trapped in his crane as it teetered over the edge of a partially destroyed bridge.
The worker was eventually rescued with no injuries.
The bridge set to be demolished sat next to the Spring Hill General Motors (GM) plant off of U.S. 31, with GM employees staging protests within earshot of the construction site as part of the ongoing national strike of the United Auto Workers labor union (UAW). At around 12:45 p.m., protesters heard a loud crash and saw a large plume of smoke from just a few hundred yards away.
“They were out there trying to do some demolition, and the sidewall of the bridge there kind of collapsed,” said Chris Gauthier, a GM employee participating in the nearby protest.