If there was a "second" bridge hit as reported, could it be that the driver of the barge was unfortunate enough to have hit the "supports" on both bridges, as opposed to being "too high" to go under either one ? And, if he had hit an interstate hard enough to drop it, would he go on to hit yet another bridge ? The two bridges must have been awfully close to one another, otherwise it sounds like a deliberate act. "He said he was driving along, and the next thing he knows, there was no pavement under him, and that he was headed for a concrete pillar of some sort and hit the water," Wetz said. One patient told Wetz he only recalled the bridge collapsing and then waking up in the hospital. He said one is a 62-year-old man, and two are in their 30s or 40s. The bridge is about 100 miles east of Oklahoma City and about 35 miles west of the Arkansas state line.Īt least four patients were being treated at Muskogee Medical Center, three in stable condition and one in critical condition, spokesman Chad Wetz said. "It's the main interstate that travels east and west through the state of Oklahoma." "There are probably thousands of cars that travel over this bridge every this day," Johnson said. Johnson said he did not know what caused the collision. Lake patrol units were interviewing the captain of the barge, Johnson said. She said the bridge was about 20 years old. The collision could have happened before dawn and the bridge could have later collapsed under the weight of the vehicles, she said. The I-40 bridge collapsed at 7:48 a.m., according to the Highway Patrol, but Horn said it wasn't clear when the barge hit it. Horn said that bridge had since been closed. It wasn't clear if the same barge hit both bridges. We're not sure which at the present time."Ī second bridge, at Webbers Falls, where traffic would have tried to pass after the first bridge collapsed, also was hit Sunday morning and was shaking but hadn't collapsed, Horn said. "We're bringing in either injured or bodies. We don't have a count at the present time," said Jewell Horn, mayor of nearby Webbers Falls. Jarrett Johnson of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.Īt least four people were being treated for injuries. Six cars and three tractor-trailers could be seen in the water, and dive teams were on the way to the scene, in the southeast part of the state, said Sgt. (AP) - A barge knocked out a 500-foot section of a bridge on Interstate 40 over the Arkansas River early Sunday, sending at least nine vehicles plunging into the water, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said. Severe storms were in the area Sunday morning.īarge knocks out Okla.
The area is about 100 miles east of Oklahoma City and about 35 miles west of the Arkansas state line. Horn said the bridge that collapsed was about 20 years old.Ĭhed Wetz of Muscogee Medical Center says three patients have arrived.
Several cars were in the water, and dive teams were on the way to the scene, in the southwest part of the state, said Sam Graves, communications officer for the Highway Patrol.Ī second bridge at Webbers Falls, where traffic was being rerouted, also was hit Sunday morning and was shaking but hadn't collapsed, Webbers Falls Mayor Jewell Horn said. The Sequoyah County Sheriff's Department and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said they were in a state of emergency. (AP) - A barge knocked out a 400-foot section of a bridge on Interstate 40 over the Arkansas River early Sunday, sending several cars plunging into the water, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said.Īt least three people were being treated for injuries, hospital officials said, and more ambulances were arriving. By reopening the bridge in just more than two months after the May 26 disaster, Oklahoma DOT set a record for a project of this size and magnitude.SALLISAW, Okla. Department of Transportation officials praised the efforts of the public and private sectors in expediting the bride’s repair. 8 deadline set by the project's contractor, which will earn $1.5 million in bonuses for completing the project early. The roadway is reopening 10 days ahead of the Aug. The bridge was reopened to traffic Monday. Since then, as many as 17,000 cars and trucks have been rerouted each day on two-lane highways through Webbers Falls and other small towns. The impact caused the collapse of four spans of the bridge, killing 14 people. The I-40 bridge, which spans the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls, Okla., was struck on the morning of May 26 by a barge that veered several hundred feet from the river's navigational channel. far less than the six months originally predicted. The I-40 bridge in eastern Oklahoma, which crashed into the Arkansas River in late May after being hit by a barge, has been rebuilt in barely over two months
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