Workers OK After Liberty Tunnel Air Shaft Rescue

PITTSBURGH — Two workers were rescued after being trapped in an air shaft above the Liberty Tunnels early Wednesday morning.

The two workers were ending their shift at 5 a.m. after working in an air shaft above the tunnels, said Jim Struzzi of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

He said when the workers tried to come out, their motorized lift stopped, trapping them.”There was an equipment failure on their part,” said Chief Stephen Carlson of the Pittsburgh Fire Department. “It wasn’t anything they had done.

“Struzzi said the workers were trapped 250 feet above the roadway and 60 feet below the top of the mountain.”

It was easier to bring them back up to the opening they went in than to take them down to the roadway inside the tunnel,” said Carlson.Emergency workers used a safety harness to rescue the workers, and neither worker was injured.”

It’s a slightly unique situation there, and hopefully something we won’t see happen again,” said Struzzi.The outbound lane of the tunnel was briefly closed while crews got the workers out.\

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