Just before 10:45 a.m. Friday Eusebio Reyna, 49, a construction worker for Williams Brothers Construction was working alongside his co-workers on the Interstate 45 road-widening project northbound between FM 830 and FM 1097. They were inside the concrete barrier. Seconds later Reyna helmet flew off and he fell into his co-worker’s lap.
MCHD and North Montgomery County Fire Department responded to the scene and initiated CPR. He was transported to Conroe Regional Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
DPSÂ Troopers spent most of the morning investigating the incident. What they found was a Power Take-off (PTO) shaft came off either a piece of heavy equipment being trailered down the road or a construction type truck, That piece then hit the road, bounced over the concrete barrier and struck the construction worker.
At this time DPS has no witnesses but is asking the publics’ help. If anyone saw this piece comes off a vehicle or actually lost the piece to contact the DPS Regional Office in Houston at 281-517-1300.
Interstate 45 was closed for a very short time as troopers investigated the crash.
My brother was driving on I-45 and a piece of metal the size of a softball crashed through his window and hit his upper forearm and broke it. I barely missed his head by 6 inches. There needs to be severe fines for people who don’t contain/strap down their crap on trucks and trailers. This happens more than most people realize.
I appreciate the update to the story. I was confused by the initial reports that it was a driveshaft that came off a vehicle. A driveshaft in the traditional sense on any modern vehicle is very rare. Half shafts are more common these days. And now that the photos have been posted that definitely is not a standard driveshaft but some auxiliary shaft off a piece of machinery. The square shaft gives it away as a low rotational / low torque shaft as does the apparent set screw on the splined coupling of the u-joint. High rotation / high torque applications require a round cross section, not square.
Conceivably it must have been resting on a piece of equipment and fallen off of the trailer it was being towed on. I suspect it was dropped to the pavement and kicked up by the wheels. A very freakish accident indeed.
So then he posts a serious, rational, and logical (not to mention intelligent) comment… Perhaps, to keep us guessing.
Well played, Dr. Lecter…
How SAD!! A man doing his job and this occurs. R.I.P. Sir!
That’s a slip shaft off of a mower. I have one just like it.