Widows sue construction companies after fatal work-site collapse on Gabriola Island

The widows of two men who were killed at a worksite on Gabriola Island, B.C.,have filedlawsuits against several construction companies, claiming the boom of a concrete pump-truck underwent shoddy repairsbefore it snapped and fell on the men last year.

Huguette Grenier-Dor and Margaret "Margy" Gilmour lost their husbands,Marc Dorand Chris Straw, in the collapse last March.

In their lawsuits filed this week, the widows claim the concrete truck's boom broke nearthepoint where it had been damaged and repaired months earlier.

"The turning column snapped from its base at or near the site of the weld repair, causing the entire boom to suddenly crash to the ground, striking and killing [Straw] and Marc Dor,"reads the claims filed in B.C. Supreme Court on Tuesday.

"The accident was caused solely by the negligence of the defendants."

None of the allegations has been proven and none offour defendants has filed a response in court.

Friends had been working on dream home

Straw and Dor, good friends and long-time island residents, had been working together last Marchon what was to be the Straws'dream home on the northern end of Gabriola Island.

The Dors, who were involved in home-building, hired a company calledBedrock Redi-Mix to provide concrete for the home's new footings and foundation. The claims said Bedrock owned the concrete truck on site.

On March 16, Straw, Dore and Dor's wife were acting as the "concrete placing crew" while Bedrock employees ran the truck.

Documents said Dor was guiding the boom's hose as it poured concrete. Straw was using a concrete vibrator to get rid of any air bubbles and Grenier-Dorfollowed Straw with a trowel to smooth thesurface.

"Approximately 10 minutes after concrete pouring began, when the boom was at or near full extension, there was a loud crack," the claims read.

The boom snapped and fell on Straw, 62, and Dor, 59.

Both wives andStraw's son-in-lawwitnessed the collapse, according to the claims. Grenier-Dortried to revive her husband whileStraw's son-in-law, Jules Molloy,"unsuccessfully attempted to resuscitate" Straw.

The court filing said all three family members have suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression after seeing what happened. Straw also left behind two children anda seven-year-old grandson.

In an email Thursday, Bedrockdeclined to comment on the lawsuitsas the casesarestill before the court.

Boom was damaged and repairedbefore collapse

The claims said the concrete truck was damaged inan unrelated incident in November 2020, four months before Straw and Dorwere killed.

An inspection company called Tripac found a crack in the truck's turning column, according to the claims. The turning column is the part that links the boom to the rest of the concrete truck and allowsit to rotate to pour concrete as needed.

Tripacallegedly "failed to properly investigate the severity" of the crack damage before finalizing its report. Another company, Alliance Concrete Pumps, is accused of repairingthe crack with welding rather than replacing the entire part.

"The boom failed at or near the site of the weld repair [on March 16]," according to the lawsuits.

The claims also named the original manufacturer of the truck,JunJin, accusing the company of using inadequate steel when it first built the truck in 2007.

CBChas contactedTripac, Alliance andJunJinfor comment but has not received a response from any of them.

Both men were retired employees of CBC.

Dorhad beenbasedin Edmonton, where he served as executive producer for Radio-Canada. He was involved in creatingthe series Autoroute lectronique, SMAC, c:qui? c/moi! and Clan Destinbefore retiring in 1999.

Straw retired as a senior network directorin 2014 after a decades-long career with CBC Radio. He worked on shows including Basic Black, RealTime, This is That and The Irrelevant Show.