Worker Killed on Deep Rock Tunnel Connector Project

William Isaac Simpson, 25, was killed June 13 while working on the Deep Rock Tunnel Connector project in Indianapolis, according to various media reports. According to the coroner’s report, Simpson’s death was accidental and the result of a head injury. Details of the accident were not immediately available.

Simpson was one of eight to 10 workers working at the time of the accident, but there were no other injuries. The accident occurred at approximately 3 a.m. on June 13. The crew was working under downtown Indianapolis at the far end of the tunnel from the main work shaft.

An IOSHA investigation is under way and may not be complete for two or three months. Indiana’s Department of Labor says it has no record of any previous problems with contractor SKJV. Simpson had been on the job for more than a year.

Memorial services will be held Saturday, June 21, at 4 p.m.at Cicero United Methodist Church. Visitation will be from 2 p.m. until the time of the service. Memorial contributions may be made to the William Isaac Simpson Memorial Fund.

The 20-ft diameter Deep Rock Tunnel Connector is an 8-mile long tunnel being built 250 ft deep as part of an overall 25-mile long tunnel system designed to reduce combined sewer overflows into area waterways. The Deep Rock Tunnel Connector began in 2012. The project is being built by a joint venture of Shea-Kenny for Citizens Energy.