GUNNISON COUNTY, Colo. — A construction worker was killed Tuesday along Highway 50 after he was struck by a falling rock, the Gunnison County Coroner's Office confirmed Wednesday.
Ricardo Batista, 69, of Florissant, died after the rock hit him near Little Blue Creek Canyon, just southwest of Sapinero, according to Gunnison County Coroner Michael Barnes.
Barnes said Batista died of multiple traumatic injuries.
He worked with American Civil Constructors Mountain West, a subsidiary of Infrastructure & Energy Alternatives, Inc., the company confirmed. A spokesperson for Infrastructure & Energy Alternatives, Inc. said they did not have other information to share on the incident as the team gathers facts about the cause of the incident.
American Civil Constructors Mountain West is one of the team members of a safety project along U.S. Highway 50 and Little Blue Creek Canyon, along with the Colorado Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration/Central Federal Lands Highway Division.
Part of the project includes "stabiliz(ing) slopes by installing rockfall catchment fence and utilizing other methods," according to CDOT's website. The project's end date is scheduled for Nov. 4, 2022.
