Crestline ? Six workers were injured Thursday when a beam gave way on a bridge being constructed in southeast Kansas.

The accident occurred about 4 p.m. at a construction site on Old Highway 96 between Crestline and the Missouri state line. Employees of Beachner Construction Co., St. Paul, Kan., have been working since December to replace the bridge over the Spring River.

One worker was taken by helicopter with serious injuries to Freeman Hospital West in Joplin, Mo. The other five were taken by ambulance to area hospitals with less serious injuries, said Cherokee County Undersheriff George Kelly.

George Dockery, a engineer with the Kansas Department of Transportation, said all six workers were standing on the beam, placing braces on it and preparing it for placement. One worker had just released a cable to move to another spot on the beam when the beam started to topple, throwing the workers off, Dockery said.

The workers could have been more seriously injured if they had not been wearing lifelines, Dockery said. They would have fallen the 25 or 30 feet to the ground.

The most seriously injured worker rode the beam all the way to the ground, suffering cuts to the head and face and leg injuries. The other workers suffered scrapes, bruises, sprains and possible broken bones, officials said.

Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials probably will be called in to investigate, but it is up to the construction contractor to contact the agency, Dockery said.

The highway was closed in December 2002, when construction began on the $2.6 million bridge replacement project.

Dockery said the accident probably would delay completion of the new bridge, which was scheduled for November.