PEDRO – Construction equipment began moving again this morning at the Rock Hill school construction site, following Monday’s death of a Beaver Excavating worker.

Wednesday, August 09, 2000

PEDRO – Construction equipment began moving again this morning at the Rock Hill school construction site, following Monday’s death of a Beaver Excavating worker.

Pat McLoughlin, 62, of Chandlersville, died at Cabell Huntington Hospital in Huntington, W.Va., about four hours after the 4 p.m. accident, Beaver Excavating president Mark Sterling said.

McLoughlin was flown by HealthNet to Cabell.

A mechanic, McLoughlin was working on a crane boom that was not in operation.

"He was disassembling it and it collapsed on him," Sterling said. "He was very experienced and knowledgeable and had done that many times for the company."

Construction crews did not work Tuesday, and Sterling expressed the company’s sympathy for McLoughlin’s family.

"This is a very rare occurrence," he said, adding the company stresses safety.

Beaver Excavating is removing about 6,000 cubic yards of material per day from the construction site to prepare the way for Rock Hill’s new schools – a high school and consolidated elementary.

The construction project will also turn the current high school building into a middle school. The more than $40 million project is funded through the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission and a local bond levy.

At Tuesday night’s Rock Hill School Board meeting, superintendent Lloyd Evans led board members and dozens of audience members in a moment of silence in memory of the construction worker.

"I understand he passed away at the hospital about 8 p.m.," Evans told board members. "It’s a terrible thing and we express our sympathy to the family."

The school board also approved sending flowers to the funeral. Final arrangements had not been made as of this morning, Sterling said.

Site work is expected to be complete by October, although some building construction could start this month, Evans said.