Worker from N.H. dies after fall from old Charleston bridge

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - A worker helping to demolish an old bridge across the Cooper River died from injuries sustained in a fall when part of the structure collapsed, the Charleston County coroner's office said Wednesday.

Chris Wareham, 28, of New Hampshire died Tuesday when he fell along with part of the Silas N. Pearman Bridge that is being dismantled, said chief deputy coroner Rae Wooten.

Wareham worked for The Jay Cashman Inc./Testa Corp. Joint Venture that has been hired to remove the old bridge. Dismantling the Pearman Bridge and the John Grace Memorial Bridge is a $57 million project that began after the new $632 million Ravenel Bridge opened last month.

State Transportation Department officials said Tuesday that the demolition contractor was removing a steel girder and concrete section of the bridge over Drum Island and the worker fell during the collapse of part of the structure.

Wooten said Wednesday that Wareham was wearing safety gear, but it wasn't clipped to anything.

Demolition work was halted. It wasn't clear when work would resume and Transportation Department officials at the bridge site did not return phone messages Wednesday. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the death.

It is the second death in the past 15 months over the Cooper River. Miguel Angel Rojas Lucas, 20, of North Charleston died in May 2004 while working for a subcontractor on the Ravenel Bridge. Rojas drowned after slipping through an incomplete section of road and falling 75 feet into Town Creek.