Virginia Injury Lawyer Blog

Western Virginia crane operator dies in workplace accident

Safety investigators are looking into the drowning death Monday of Roger Dale Goad, who died while operating a crane in the Franklin County community of Burnt Chimney in western Virginia.

Goad, 55, of Henry was helping dismantle a dock on Smith Mountain Lake, a popular freshwater lake in the Blue Ridge Mountains, when his crane came off its base and fell into more than 50 feet of water, The Roanoke Times reported.

"It's still under investigation, but somehow the crane came loose from the barge and sank into the lake," Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Patrick Meeks told the newspaper.

Goad was working for Plyler Homes and Docks, a Moneta company that – according to its Web site – specializes in real estate development, home construction and dock construction in the Smith Mountain Lake area.

The company was in the process of replacing an old dock at a lake home on River Creek Road when the accident happened.

Goad, according to the Roanoke newspaper, was dismantling the wooden piles that anchored the dock. The crane was resting on a barge and weighed more than nine tons.

Two other workers – one on the barge and one on a tugboat – survived.

Goad’s sister-in-law, Gail Goad, told the newspaper that her brother-in-law had worked for Plyler for almost 40 years and had never held another job.

The U.S. Coast Guard is supposed to take over the investigation, and divers were expected to study the crane before it is raised from the lake’s floor. 

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Labels: crane accident Plyler Homes and Docks Roger Dale Goad Roger Goad Smith Mountain Lake workplace accident workplace lawyer