Construction Worker Killed by Toppled Backhoe in Fort Snelling State Park

A construction worker was crushed to death by the backhoe he was driving around 10 a.m. this morning near the entrance to Fort Snelling State Park.

The man, employed by the Jordan-based firm S.M. Hentges, was working on a Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) project to create a drainage pond to capture runoff from the airport and prevent pollutants from flowing into the Mississippi River, said MAC public affairs director Patrick Hogan.

“A crew was beginning work on dredging one of the stormwater ponds just east of the airport at the entrance to Fort Snelling state park,” Hogan said. “The backhoe driver was putting down planking and then driving the backhoe on it—that’s the way they move across the muddy ground—and the backhoe tipped and tipped onto the individual, and he did not survive.”

Members of the backhoe driver’s crew called in help in what was initially deemed a recovery operation. Hogan said the medical examiner is now on the scene and officials are in the process of recovering the body.

We’ll keep you posted as more information becomes available.