The trucker whose load was too tall and struck and damaged six overpasses or bridges over the Will Rogers Turnpike in northeast Oklahoma was caught immediately and will face a federal investigation.
The incident this week happened near Claremore and a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority told News on 6 in Tulsa a turnpike work crew heard the first crash.
“They were working near that bridge, and they heard the hit and immediately called it in to OHP,” said Lisa Shearer Salim, of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. “That’s when OHP pulled the driver over, a few miles away.”
The highway patrol explained the driver violated laws and was “not permitted” to carry the massive long pole. The load was immediately placed “out of service” and the matter will be administratively handled by federal regulators.
“Our understanding is that this particular vehicle, the load it was hauling, was closer to 16 feet than not, and that is way over what is allowed in state statutes,” said Shearer Salim, reported News on 6.
The load in question was nearly 15 feet high while state law requires truck loads to be no higher than 14 feet.
“We think it is very fortunate that this was not worse than what it was. When you are damaging a bridge beam, and if there had been traffic on that bridge at the time, that could have been fatal, potentially, if the worst had occurred. Fortunately, the worst did not occur,” said Shearer Salim.
The Turnpike Authority announced late Thursday that eastbound I-44/Will Rogers Turnpike will be narrowed to one lane underneath county bridges at N. 4310 Rd., W. 370 Rd. and E. 530 Rd. from 7 p.m. Thursday to 7 a.m. Friday and 7 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday and continuing nightly through Tuesday for bridge repairs in Rogers and Mayes counties. Work will resume after the holiday. As work is completed for these first three bridges, turnpike lanes will be closed for repairs to overhead county bridges at S. 4220 Rd., N. 4300 Rd. and N. 429 Rd.
Motorists are advised to expect night-time lane closures and delays on the Will Rogers Turnpike between SH-266 near Verdigris and east of SH-28 near Vinita until repairs are complete, which could take up to two weeks, weather permitting.
Six bridges between SH-266 near Verdigris and east of SH-28 near Vinita were damaged by the illegally over-height truck Tuesday afternoon. Three of the six county road bridges remain closed to traffic until repairs can be made. Repairs will include flame straightening and replacing sections of damaged beams.
The bridges hit include:
- E. 530 Rd. – closed between S. 4130 Rd. and Lakeway Rd.
- S. 4220 Rd. – closed between E. 460 Rd. and E. 470 Rd. east of Claremore
- N. 429 Rd. – open between E. 390 Rd. and SH-28
- N. 4300 Rd. – closed between E. 380 Rd. and W. 390 Rd.
- N. 4310 Rd. – open
- W. 370 Rd. – open
OTA is working closely with officials from Rogers County, Mayes County, City of Claremore, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation in response to this incident.
This map graphic shows county bridge locations along the I-44/Will Rogers Turnpike closed due to bridge strikes by a semi-truck between Verdigris and 5 miles northeast of SH-20.
This map graphic shows 1 county bridge closure along the I-44/Will Rogers Turnpike northeast of SH-28.
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