'Wind blew gantry' inquest told

The men fell 80 ft to their deaths

Four men fell to their deaths from a gantry that had been seen moving in the wind, an inquest jury was told.

The men were working on a gantry suspended under the Avonmouth bridge on the M5 when they plunged to the ground in September 1999.

Paul Stewart, 23, from Newcastle, Andrew Rodgers, 40, from Middlesbrough, Ronald Hill, 38, from Glasgow, and Jeffrey Williams, 42, from Newport, all died from multiple injuries.

David Leaman, employed as a chargehand on the bridge, told the inquest jury in Bristol that he had seen a gantry moving in the wind under the bridge before.

Each day there was a weather statement on the site, and usually an onsite weather station, but it wasn't working David Leaman

He could not recall when he had seen the gantry moved by the wind, he said, but did report it to superiors.

He also told the jury that a weather station on the site, which showed wind speed, was not working on the day of the accident.

On Monday, a health and safety inspector told the jury the accident on the Avonmouth M5 motorway bridge near Bristol happened when the gantry was blown along a sloping beam.

He said "beam clamps" being used as brakes were "not reliable enough" and failed to stop it.

One end of the platform detached from the beams, leaving it hanging down.

Wind danger

Mr Leaman told the inquest: "We were told a wind speed of 25mph would stop operations.

"Each day there was a weather statement on the site, and usually an onsite weather station, but it wasn't working."

He added that he had a handheld wind speed measuring device, but he had not taken a reading on the day of the accident.

Keith Salmon, a gantry supervisor of plating and welding on the bridge, told the jury he had not been warned about the dangers of wind speed.

He added he had not known that four "turfers" - which are used to restrain and move the gantry - should be used.

He said "two or three" turfers were normally used.

The jury heard various written statements from workers employed on the Avonmouth Bridge site in September 1999.

Malcolm Hunter, a welder, saw the gantry "swinging and hanging" and moving at a "fast pace" along the beam, before stopping.

Other witness statements, mainly by site engineers, described procedures and work carried out on the bridge, particularly on the gantries.

The hearing was adjourned until Wednesday.