A Britton Bridge construction crew works on one of the support pillars for a new bridge across the Tennessee River in Marion County.
U.S. Highway 41 bridge replacement projectMajor East Tennessee contractor Britton Bridge LLC is trying to limit or escape liability in a worker’s March 26 drowning at the U.S. Highway 41 bridge replacement project.
Abimael Contreras Martinez, an employee of subcontractor Gilley Construction, fell while crossing between two barges in the river and drowned, court records state.
Martinez’s widow, Stephanie Mae Pinegar Ontiveros, seeks $3 million in damages in a wrongful death lawsuit filed in May in Marion County Circuit Court.
But Britton Bridge filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in September seeking exoneration under U.S. maritime law, claiming the company had no knowledge and was not in a position to know of the conditions under which the accident happened and therefore should have no or limited liability.
Gilley Construction has been named by Britton Bridge as a third party, records show.