The slush bombs that rained down from the sky on drivers crossing the Port Mann Bridge shortly after it opened in 2012 have resulted in a pair of lawsuits.
According to a notice of civil claim filed in Vancouver Supreme Court last week, Caryl-Lee Obrecht is suing the Transportation Investment Corp. (TI Corp.), the company that operates the Port Mann/Highway 1 project, over the slush bomb incident on Dec. 19, 2012.
Court documents state Obrecht was a passenger in a Ford Focus travelling across the bridge eastbound from Coquitlam that day when large sheets of ice falling from support cables struck the vehicle.
The suit claims as a result of the incident, Obrecht, a Delta resident, suffered injuries including a concussion, laceration to the scalp, headaches, injuries to the neck and shoulder, post-traumatic stress disorder and nightmares.
The suit claims the incident and resulting injuries were caused solely as a result of the negligence of TI Corp.
Documents list a number of alleged incidents of negligence against TI Corp., including failing to take reasonable care to ensure the plaintiff would be safe on the bridge, adopting and implementing a design for construction of the bridge it should have known created a risk of ice forming on the supporting beams and falling on users, failing to give adequate warnings about the ice bombs, and failing to close the bridge when the company knew conditions at the time were conducive to the slush bombs.
Obrecht is seeking general and special damages, and reimbursement for all past and future health-care costs.
A second and separate notice of claim was filed by Roberta Lessard, who is suing TI Corp. and three other companies involved in the construction or operation of the bridge — Kiewit/Flatiron General Partnership, Flatiron Constructors Canada and Peter Kiewit Infrastructure — over a similar incident the same day.
Court documents, also filed last week in New Westminster Supreme Court, state Lessard was driving eastbound on the Port Mann Bridge near Surrey, and was injured when ice and snow plummeted onto the roof of her car.
The incident caused the car’s windshield to shatter and Lessard to slam on her brakes, resulting in injury.
As a result of the incident, the suit claims Lessard, who is described as an employee of the Vancouver Police Department, suffered physical injuries including headaches and soft tissue damage and shock, as well as trauma and nervousness.
She is seeking general and special damages and recovery of health-care costs.
The suit claims the injuries were caused by the negligence of all the parties named in the suit for failing to properly maintain, repair and inspect the bridge, and failing to properly design the bridge and ensure it was reasonably safe and danger-free.
None of the allegations have been proven in court and the other parties have yet to file a response.
Just a few weeks after opening in December 2012, the bridge was shut down for part of a day when “slush bombs” fell from cables.
