CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Twelve people injured when a walkway at
Lowe's Motor Speedway collapsed after a NASCAR race two years ago
settled lawsuits against the speedway and the walkway's builder.
A final agreement was reached Thursday morning, plaintiffs'
lawyer Martin Brackett said. Terms of the settlement are
confidential, but Brackett said some plaintiffs will receive
lump-sum payments, while others will be paid over time.
A jury trial for the first four plaintiffs had been scheduled to
begin Monday in Mecklenburg County Superior Court.
More than 100 people were hurt when the walkway over U.S. 29 in
Concord collapsed as fans left the speedway complex after the May
20, 2000, running of The Winston all-star race.
No one was killed, but 97 people were hospitalized, some for
nearly a month.
Lawsuits named as defendants the speedway; parent company
Speedway Motorsports; Tindall Corp. of Spartanburg, S.C., which
designed and built the walkway's concrete support beams; and Anti
Hydro International Inc. of Flemington, N.J.
Tindall had blamed an Anti Hydro grout used in the walkway for
corroding metal cables inside the 320-foot walkway.
Brackett said he did not know how the defendants divided
financial responsibility for the settlement.
Calls to Tindall and lawyers for Anti Hydro and the speedway
were not immediately returned Thursday.
North Carolina bridge inspectors did not examine the original
walkway because it was built on the speedway's property. They did
monitor construction of a replacement walkway, which opened less
than five months later.