RENTON, Wash. -- A backhoe struck a state Transportation Department contractor on Interstate 405 at Renton near Highway 167.

The State Patrol said the worker was crushed as the equipment backed up. The worker was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. His condition is not known.

The Transportation Department said the accident happened Thursday night as the worker was installing electrical conduit in the median as part of a freeway widening project.