Lenoir woman

killed at

construction site
By Melanie Davis
melanie@mountaintimes.com

An equipment failure caused the death of a Lenoir woman Tuesday on the site of the U.S. 321 widening project south of Blowing Rock.

At 3 p.m., Tracy White, 35, was operating a 1999 International dump truck, hauling loads of rock and debris down the mountain to a dump site. Keith Davenport, EMS manager for the Caldwell County Office of Emergency Services, said the truck's brakes appeared to fail.

White attempted to jump from the runaway truck. The truck ran over her as she was trying to exit. White was pronounced dead on the scene.

The truck continued down the steep incline, coming to rest 200 feet from the initial starting point.

Davenport said White had been using the truck for the majority of the day, hauling more than 20 loads to the dump site. He added that White owned the dump truck and had contracted with W.C. English Contractors, which is overseeing the widening project.

Lenoir Rescue, Patterson Volunteer Fire Department, Caldwell EMS and the N.C. Highway Patrol responded to the scene.