# 17-ton concrete slab overhang fell from a bank building in Stroud Township



## AmeliaP (Apr 22, 2007)

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130828/NEWS/308280321

By CAMILO H. SMITH
Pocono Record Writer
August 28, 2013
A Pittston man was pulled from his crushed utility truck Tuesday after being trapped for more than an hour after a 17-ton concrete slab overhang fell from a bank building in Stroud Township.

Edward Joseph Shucosky Jr. was pinned behind the dashboard of his white Ford utility truck in the drive-through lane of the Wayne Bank near Stroud Mall. Stroud Area Regional Police would not speculate on what caused the concrete slab to crash onto the vehicle, contorting it into a V-shape.

Several people working to free the driver speculated that the arm from the aerial platform lift attached to the back of his truck came in contact with a concrete overhang attached to the building.

Police said the outside face wall of concrete was approximately 48 feet long and 12 feet wide. It landed on the truck's front firewall separating the engine compartment from the interior front dash. It pinned his legs under the concrete and front part of the truck.

Police estimated the slab to weigh about 17 tons — approximately the weight of three elephants or an average loaded school bus.

"All I heard was the noise when it hit the wall," said witness Cardelia Gaither. "It started crashing down. I heard this crushing sound, and he started screaming."

Gaither, of Stroud Township, had been across the street with another woman when the incident occurred.

Gaither held the other woman's hand tightly as they waited for rescue workers to lift the concrete in the early part of the operation.


"You're doing great, Eddie! You're doing great!" the woman who did not want to give her name yelled to Shucosky.

A crowd from the mall parking lot gathered as rescue workers rushed to remove the concrete. The spectators, cellphones lifted high, were taking pictures and recording video.

Stroud Township firefighters placed calls to Schlier's Towing in Tannersville and Papillion and Moyer Construction Co. for large, heavy-duty wreckers and heavy-duty construction boom trucks to lift the concrete off the vehicle.

The concrete piece was removed within an hour of the initial 4:07 p.m. call for help. It took an additional 20 minutes to free Shucosky from the truck because of the damage caused by the concrete piece.

He was airlifted to the Lehigh Valley Hospital Trauma Unit with injuries not believed to be life threatening, police said.

Julia Deannuntis asked her two granddaughters repeatedly to turn around and not look at the man trapped inside. She had been traveling north on Route 611 when she saw a piece of wall that looked like it was resting on the ground.

She knew something was wrong.

"It's like something you would only see on TV," Deannuntis said. "I just said, 'God, please be with this man.'"


According to authorities, Shucosky may have been working on projects in the area, including an area in front of the mall.

Shucosky, listed in public records as 36 years old, is a contractor with the Kuharchik construction company in Exeter. A representative with the company said they were aware of the accident but wouldn't elaborate.

Jim Schlier of Schlier's Towing helped coordinate the removal of the concrete slab using several nylon straps and construction cranes.

Once the slab was lifted about 10 feet in the air, a tow truck gingerly pulled the wrecked vehicle backward, with Shucosky still inside.

Schlier described the caution required to remove the concrete.

"We lifted it straight up," he said. "But we were concerned that it would break in half."

Police said the slab was lifted off the vehicle around 4:53 p.m.

Police were expected to work through the night reconstructing the accident and didn't want to speculate on the cause.


"What the fire department did was a monumental task," said Cpl. Ken Nevil of SARP.

Shucosky's right leg was trapped between the pedal and the dashboard, Stroud Township Assistant Fire Chief Bill Unruh said.

Shucosky was pulled from the vehicle around 5:19 p.m. with the help of EMS and firefighters. He was conscious as onlookers gathered.

According to an employee, the bank was open at the time of the incident.


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## dakzaag (Jan 6, 2009)

very lucky guy if you ask me, his head could have been crushed if he had been forward just a few inches.

It does not look to me like any of the bucket truck was in contact with the wall.


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## TAHomeRepairs (Jun 18, 2012)

Don't think I'll be using the drive thru anymore....


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

Somebody will be using their insurance soon.


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## jar546 (Aug 13, 2013)

You just gotta love the backyard engineering used in Pennsylvania for years with no code oversight and inspectors with no experience. I believe that was built pre-2004 and was suppose to be inspected by Labor and Industry. We are now seeing the rotten fruits of their inadequate labor. Good thing that's not a seismic zone...........


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

They don't make those fords like they used to...


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## tedanderson (May 19, 2010)

I'm glad the guy survived.. but sometimes the news can be so vague when they say "non life threatening" which could mean anything from the guy cutting his finger to losing use of his limbs.


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## svronthmve (Aug 3, 2008)

jar546 said:


> You just gotta love the backyard engineering used in Pennsylvania for years with no code oversight and inspectors with no experience. I believe that was built pre-2004 and was suppose to be inspected by Labor and Industry. We are now seeing the rotten fruits of their inadequate labor. Good thing that's not a seismic zone...........


Or the fruits of a guy who wasn't paying attention to the height of his vehicle :whistling: 

Why are you people so quick to want the govt to protect you from yourselves all the time?! There are numerous instances out there of jobs that were supposedly "properly inspected" and yet failed.


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## CJKarl (Nov 21, 2006)

Seems like an expensive way to build a facade.


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## ohiohomedoctor (Dec 26, 2010)

tedanderson said:


> I'm glad the guy survived.. but sometimes the news can be so vague when they say "non life threatening" which could mean anything from the guy cutting his finger to losing use of his limbs.


He got lucky for sure. From the position of the stearing wheel and his continued screams probably one or two broken femors and loss of the family jewels..


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## TAHomeRepairs (Jun 18, 2012)

svronthmve said:


> Or the fruits of a guy who wasn't paying attention to the height of his vehicle :whistling:
> 
> Why are you people so quick to want the govt to protect you from yourselves all the time?! There are numerous instances out there of jobs that were supposedly "properly inspected" and yet failed.


I for one, constantly encounter what have to be drive by inspections, that or the BO must be blind....


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## DavidC (Feb 16, 2008)

Lucky to be alive is my first thought. And I hope for a full recovery for him and his family.

Unfortunately my second thought, somebody's going to call for more gov't. interference. For the record, I agree with svronthnye on the issue. Let's wait and see what the real cause is before rushing to call for more regulation.

Good Luck
Dave


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## jlsconstruction (Apr 26, 2011)

We need less regulations. So we can thin the pack


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## svronthmve (Aug 3, 2008)

And does it ever need to be thinned!


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## brickhook (May 8, 2012)

Doesn't look good. I hope for a speedy recovery


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## Kniggit (Apr 11, 2013)

So thats what wall ties are for.....!


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## jomama (Oct 25, 2008)

That guy is certainly lucky to be alive.

Unfortunately, something similar happened here a few years ago, the 15 yo kid wasn't so lucky........

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/97153569.html


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## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

jlsconstruction said:


> We need less regulations. So we can thin the pack


Unfortunately with structural work the thinning of the pack involves loss of life. If a structural element isn't inspected and it falls to past experience to deem who can successfully build structural elements and who can't then there will be many close calls and lose of life. Hamurabi lived 5000 or so years ago and had laws against this stuff


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## greg24k (May 19, 2007)

I hope the guy gets a speedy recovery.

With that said, just by looking at it I can't see this could not work and is going to fail. Poor engineering and whoever designed that abortion didn't account for wind loads, not to mention the base and the top piece is not thick enough to have a strong enough anchors to withstand lateral loads and keeping top piece from becoming lose and coming off.

That top piece took a few wind loads, strong enough to create movement and after a short period of time the anchors gave and here is the result of it.

This what happens when people who do plan reviews see a stamp on the plan and it makes it ok to pass. I'm sure a few basic calculations taking into account all load factors they would see this could never work.


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## AmeliaP (Apr 22, 2007)

The driver has only a badly sprained ankle. No word on the cause if the failure.


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