DANIA BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A work crew was caught by surprise after a boat they were testing was struck by debris in Dania Beach.
Noel Matlock and Gennaro DiMartino, who work for Dusky Marine, said they were out on the water when slabs of concrete started falling onto their vessel.
“We took the boat out, we were going down the canal,” Matlock said. “I got up to make sure we were going to clear the bridge. We had over a foot of clearance, got under the bridge, and then all of a sudden, I thought somebody threw a concrete block at us.”
A piece of the bridge they were going under had broken off. It fell onto the boat, which was to be delivered to a customer.
“It was that long, by that wide,” said DiMartino. “It was a big piece that came down.”
The big chunk from the bridge came crashing down from the Northwest First Street canal bridge, east of Bryan Road.
Pictures released showed the extent of the damage and concrete scattered all over the 27-foot boat.
But it wasn’t just the boat that was struck. Matlock said he was hit as well.
“Yeah, I got hit on the side here,” he said. “I had to go get it checked out but not too terribly bad.”
Both boaters agree the damage and injuries could have been far worse.
“If he was standing further back, it would have got him in the head, for sure,” said DiMartino.
Out of fear of it happening again, perhaps to other people out on the water, Dusky Marine co-owner Pam Brown alerted police.
“I went over to the police station myself and had three police come back here with me,” Brown said. “They called some engineering man, and we all went down to the other side of the bridge.”
Engineers took pictures and told her it may be a type of stress crack.
“The sad part is nothing has been done since,” Brown said. “Until they determine what is wrong with that bridge, that bridge should be shut down. No one should be going across that bridge.”
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