BENTONVILLE -- Two workers were slightly injured Tuesday morning when scaffolding at a construction site on Interstate 49 collapsed, according to Arkansas Department of Transportation officials.
The injuries were not life-threatening, according to Danny Straessle, a spokesman for the department. One worker was taken to a local hospital while the other refused treatment at the scene.
The accident happened at I-49 and West Walnut Street/Walton Boulevard, which is Exit 85, Straessle said. Crews were removing the scaffolding from under a bridge when it collapsed.
"The contractor was in the process of dismantling the scaffolding and something shifted and the scaffolding fell," Straessle said. "Fortunately, minor injuries, one construction worker got his finger smashed."
The accident didn't disrupt traffic, Straessle said.
"So, there's not danger at all of the bridge collapsing from the beams falling down or anything,"" Straessle said. "The beams are supporting their own weight now, and the scaffolding was just there to help hold up the beams while they were lifting the middle piece into place and locking it all down."
He said similar scaffolding on the other end of the bridge had been removed last week.
Crews are building a single point, urban interchange, which will feature one traffic light controlling all traffic coming on and off the interstate and on Walton Boulevard in Bentonville and Walnut Street in Rogers. The interchange will be the first of its kind in Arkansas.
The project is expected to be completed in August 2020, according to Transportation Department officials. The low bidder was Fayetteville-based APAC-Arkansas at $26.89 million.