Avery, Elmer Dies in Accident 1965

AVERY

Posted By: Ernie Braida
Date: 9/20/2011 at 08:40:16

A worker on a crew engaged in supplementary grouting on Stage I of Red Rock Dam was fatally injured in a drill rig accident in mid-afternoon on Friday.

Elmer Avery, 43, of Mountain Pine, Ark., a drill foreman for W. A. Smith Compnay, was rushed to Iowa Methodist Hospital in Des Moines where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Elmer Gidel, Corps of Engineers resident engineer, said that the crew was working on the upstream face of the dam, about 500 feet from the south end. A drill rig mounted truck, which was parked over a hole, began to move. Avery jumped into the truck cab but was unable to check its movement.

The truck collided with another and then rolled over four times down about two-thirds of the slope.

Avery stayed with the truck, was thrown out on the fourth roll and was crushed by the vehicle.

Marion County Newspapers 1965