RICHMOND, Va. -- Terry Davis never expected a stroll across the pedestrian bridge to Belle Isle to shake her up so much. But it did on Sunday. As she and her friend crossed the walkway, she said she heard a thunderous sound.
"'What is that noise?' I asked. I looked up and there was this huge table laying in the center of the walk area of the pedestrian bridge," Davis said.
She said she believed somehow a banquet table fell nearly 60 feet from a gaping space above the pedestrian walkway from the Lee Bridge.
"I just kept thinking oh God, I was just standing there and then there's a little family they could've been hit by it. It certainly would have killed someone. It was all metal," Davis explained.
The witness believes somehow a banquet table managed to fall nearly 60 feet from a gaping space above the pedestrian walkway from the Lee bridge.
Caleb Cosner, who frequents that area, was stunned to hear what witnesses said happened.
"It doesn't seem like there was much damage done to the bridge, but I certainly would like to see it checked out," Cosner added.
Davis and others who use the pedestrian walkway often, said they'd like to see the city install some type of safety barrier.
Richmond Public Works spokesperson Sharon North said the city would send out a crew to inspect for damage. Workers were seen removing the table from a nearby area under the walkway Monday afternoon.
North indicated no one from their department had heard about the situation until CBS 6 News' inquiry.
Several visitors to Belle Isle said they won't let this stop them from using the walkway, but they'd like to see the added protection.
"I definitely think they should look into putting up some sort of netting or something that could maybe catch anything that's falling you don't want people being hit," Katie Christopher said.
Davis and others who regularly walk that pedestrian bridge questioned whether any safety measures would be taken after this.
North said the city has no plan to install a safety barrier above the pedestrian walkway. The department sent out an inspector to check for damage and concluded that someone may have rolled the table out onto this pedestrian walkway and left it.
Witnesses who heard the crash said they don't buy that theory.
To them, it still remains a mystery. They're just glad what they saw on Sunday didn't become a tragedy.
