Worker recovering after construction accident on I-64

A southern Illinois man said his brother is recovering after he was injured Monday at a construction site on Interstate 64, east of O’Fallon.

Mathew Owen said his brother had cracked ribs, broken vertebrae and bruising as a result of Monday’s accident. Owen said his brother was released from a Belleville hospital and was “at home resting” by Tuesday.

Owen said his brother, who was not immediately available to comment Tuesday, works at PJR & Associates, a steel-erecting contractor. The company is based in Campbell Hills.

An employee at PJR & Associates declined to comment on what happened Monday.

“We have no comment,” the spokesperson said. “We're still investigating the accident."

It was unclear by Tuesday how the accident occurred or how the worker was injured.

Illinois State Police responded to the scene Monday morning, according to Trooper Calvin Dye Jr. Dye said a trooper believed that at least one beam “fell on one of the workers.”

The $36.5 million project at Interstate 64 and Rieder Road started in 2014. Previous reports noted that the construction of a new interchange is a joint venture between the Kilian Corporation, of Mascoutah, and Keeley and Sons Inc., of East St. Louis, with another 20 subcontractors on site. It’s scheduled to be completed by May 2017.

The Kilian Corporation declined to comment.

Keeley and Sons Inc. was not immediately available for comment by Tuesday afternoon.

Illinois Department of Transportation’s District 8 said the worker was not an IDOT employee, but rather, a contractor’s employee.

The Lebanon-Emerald Mound Volunteer Fire Department and O’Fallon Fire Department responded to the scene at around 9:40 a.m. Monday, where eastbound traffic was backed up for some time on the interstate near mile marker 19.

Lebanon Fire Chief Matthew Berberich said a construction worker was injured and taken by ambulance to a hospital.

Owen said his brother was released from the hospital by Monday evening.

This story was originally published August 9, 2016 at 2:51 PM with the headline "Worker recovering after construction accident on I-64."