Three men died during the construction of the bridge. On 22 November 1937, Hans James Zimmerman slipped and fell to the ground. On 7 February 1939, Alfred William Jackson fell from the bridge into the river. Although pulled from the water alive, he died 4 hours later in hospital without regaining consciousness. On 6 December 1939, Arthur McKay (Max) Wharton was hit by a piece of equipment on a nerve that made him faint, falling from the bridge to the water; 18 months earlier Wharton had been hailed as a hero for saving another worker from falling from the bridge.