Worker restoring bridge dies when he falls and lands on an island, WA officials say

A 39-year-old man plunged 70 feet to his death while working to restore a historic bridge, Washington officials said.

Gabriel Zelaya was working on a project to restore the Beverly Railroad Bridge on Tuesday when he fell onto an island below, Kittitas County officials said.

“Zelaya was employed by a private contractor working on the new concrete decking of the historic Beverly railroad trestle, which will link portions of the Palouse-to-Cascades trail on either side of the Columbia River,” county officials said in a news release.

Officials from the sheriff’s office and Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue took a boat to the island to help Zelaya, but he died before he could be airlifted from the island.

The incident is under investigation, and the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries will also investigate.

“We offer our deepest sympathies to Mr. Zelaya’s family and thank all the agencies and people who urgently came together to try to save him after this tragic accident,” Sheriff Clay Myers said in the news release.

The project is part of an effort to make the 3,000-foot-long bridge safer for hikers and bikers, according to My Northwest.

Construction of the Beverly Railroad Bridge was completed in 1909, and the bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, according to the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation.

This story was originally published August 4, 2021 at 3:06 PM with the headline "Worker restoring bridge dies when he falls and lands on an island, WA officials say."