![]() One or two barges travel that section of the river each day, said Bruce Taylor, the chief engineer for the state's department of transportation. "It's certainly a major thoroughfare across the United States, and to have it disrupted is not good news for commerce," said Keating. Vehicles were backed up for miles on either side of the Arkansas River, and the small towns in the area were overwhelmed with detour traffic. It was closed in both directions following the collapse. Invistigators look over a car recovered from the river after the collapse. The bridge is about 40 miles from the border with Arkansas. I-40 is the major east-west route through Oklahoma, with an estimated 20,000 vehicles crossing the bridge daily, Keating said. Part of the roadway angled downward onto the barges, which were holding them up. That's all he remembers."Īerial views of the bridge showed four lanes of highway near the river bank leading at a 45-degree angle into the water. "He told me he was driving along and the next thing he remembers he was in the water," Wetz said. "I couldn't believe it was actually happening here." ( Full story)Ĭhed Wetz of the Muskogee Medical Center said one patient treated for facial injuries described what happened to him. "I saw them pull one person out of the water," Hanlon said. Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Jason Hanlon arrived a few minutes after the collapse and saw the front wheels of an 18-wheeler hanging over the edge of the pavement and two trucks and two cars in the water. The crash led cars and trucks to plunge some 60 feet into the river. when one of two barges going north on the river struck a pylon, Keating said. 'I couldn't believe it was actually happening' Frank Keating.įour others who were traveling on the bridge at the time were also hospitalized for their injuries, said West. "It appeared to be just one of those awful accidents - terrible that it occurred on Memorial Day (weekend)," said Oklahoma Gov. Henderson said he has been a boat pilot for 30 years and was very familiar with the stretch of river where the accident happened. The captain was identified as Joe Dedmon of Florence, Mississippi. ![]()
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