Equipment lodged under walkway

Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2005 | 9:30 a.m.

A heavy duty piece of construction equipment became wedged Monday morning under an elevated walkway at the Las Vegas Convention Center and slowed traffic underneath for more than six hours, a Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority spokeswoman said.

No one was injured in the incident, which began about 7:30 Monday morning as a construction elevator being carried by tractor-trailer from the Turnberry Place condominiums to the MGM Grand got stuck under the walkway that connects the Convention Center to a neighboring parking lot, Marina Nicola, a center spokeswoman, said.

The crash occurred on the first day of the MAGIC Marketplace convention, which was expected to draw roughly 90,000 conventioneers. The walkway is considered a primary travel route for convention-goers and nearby hotels, she said.

Traffic on Paradise Boulevard, which runs under the walkway, was slowed to one lane as Metro Police and Clark County engineers inspected the crash site. The walkway reopened about 2 p.m., Nicola said.

Nicola said the LVCVA, which runs the convention center, had not determined how much damage the crash caused.