Opinion ID: 382697
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: What Happened?

Text: 3 Crawford was a carpenter for Trotti & Thompson from 1958 to 1973. During that time he worked intermittently on the construction of highways, bridges, refineries, and a number of piers. For approximately six months prior to his injury, Crawford was involved in the construction of a large pier within the Port of Beaumont, extending into the Neches River, a major navigational waterway. The new pier was to become a part of the Port and to be used in the loading and unloading of vessels. 4 The pier-construction process is well-known. 1 As the record in this case shows, in the early stages the vast majority of the work takes place on floating barges. First, numerous pilings are driven into the bottom of the waterway. Support hangers are attached to the tops of the pilings. Progressing outward from the shore, the pilings are initially connected with narrow steel beams. 2 Wooden forms-built by carpenters on the floating barges-are then hoisted onto these strut beams and filled with concrete. Crawford, as most carpenters, was primarily involved in building the forms, although he also assisted in the hoisting and concrete-pouring operations. Not infrequently, in hoisting and in moving the barges from place to place, Crawford donned a life jacket and worked in the water itself. In all, about 90% of his time was spent working on the barges; the rest was either on the pier structure or actually floating in water itself. 5 Crawford's injury occurred as he was standing out over the water on one of the steel beams of the pier structure. He was directing a crane operator in the movement of a steel beam when the beam slipped out of the chain holding it. The beam struck Crawford, knocking him onto a concreted portion of the uncompleted pier and severely injuring his right arm. 6 The issues before us relate solely to whether Crawford was within the jurisdictional confines of the LHWCA at the time of injury. First, Crawford must have been working on a covered maritime situs 3 within § 903(a). Secondly, he must have had the status 4 of a covered employee under § 902(3). 5 Our resolution of these issues is aided by the decision of the Fourth Circuit in a factually similar case, Brown & Root, Inc. v. Joyner, 607 F.2d 1087 (1979), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 100 S.Ct. 2960, 64 L.Ed.2d 837 (1980), by a recent decision of the Supreme Court, P.C. Pfeiffer Co. v. Ford, 444 U.S. 69, 100 S.Ct. 328, 62 L.Ed.2d 225, 1979 A.M.C. 2319 (1979), and by extensive discussions in decisions of our Court. See Jacksonville Shipyards, Inc. v. Perdue, 539 F.2d 533, 1976 A.M.C. 1934 (5th Cir. 1976), vacated and remanded in part, 432 U.S. 904, 97 S.Ct. 2967, 53 L.Ed.2d 1088, aff'd on remand, 575 F.2d 79, 1978 A.M.C. 2672 (1978), aff'd in part sub nom., P.C. Pfeiffer Co. v. Ford, supra; Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp. v. Morgan, 551 F.2d 61, 1977 A.M.C. 987 (5th Cir. 1977); Alabama Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Co. v. Kininess, 554 F.2d 176, 1977 A.M.C. 1650 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 903, 98 S.Ct. 299, 54 L.Ed.2d 190, 1978 A.M.C. 1894 (1977); Odom Construction Co. v. United States Department of Labor, 622 F.2d 110 (5th Cir. 1980).