Update Apr 26, 2010: After being closed for 6 months, I-40 is now open.
The I-40 Bridge Disaster was a bridge collapse that occurred in Webbers Falls, Oklahoma on May 26, 2002. Joe Dedmon, captain of the tugboat Robert Y. Love, experienced a blackout and lost control of the ship. This, in turn, caused the barge he was controlling to collide with a bridge support. The result was a 580 foot (180 m) section of the I-40 bridge plunging into Kerr Reservoir on the Arkansas River. Fourteen people died when several automobiles and tractor trailers fell from the bridge.An estimated 20,000 vehicles per day were rerouted for about two months while crews rebuilt the bridge. Traffic resumed Monday, July 29, 2002, only two months after the disaster. The reopening set a new national record for such a project, which would normally be expected to take six months.
Now fast forward to Oct. 25, 2009. Rock slide closes I-40. How long will it be closed? This isn't the first time Interstate 40 has been shut down due to a rockslide in Haywood County.
The highway closed July 1, 1997, following a series of rock slides near mile marker 1. Three people were injured when their vehicles struck the falling boulders. None of the injuries were life threatening, and the couple hospitalized went home later that week.
The interstate was closed to all traffic from July 1 until two lanes were reopened Sept. 10. The cost of the nearly yearlong cleanup surpassed $2.5 million.
The highway closed July 1, 1997, following a series of rock slides near mile marker 1. Three people were injured when their vehicles struck the falling boulders. None of the injuries were life threatening, and the couple hospitalized went home later that week.
The interstate was closed to all traffic from July 1 until two lanes were reopened Sept. 10. The cost of the nearly yearlong cleanup surpassed $2.5 million.
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