Swendsen v. Brighton Building & Maintenance Co.

Plaintiff Richard Swendsen appeals from a summary judgment in favor of defendants in an action brought under the Structural Work Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 48, par. 60 et seq.).

Defendants, known as “Brighton Krug Joint Venture,” were general contractors for the construction of the Interstate Route No. 474 bridge across the Illinois River at Peoria. In order to construct the piers for the bridge, pilings 40 feet long were driven into the riverbed and were interlocked so that the water could be kept out while forms for the piers were built and concrete was poured into the forms. The pilings…