I-40 bridge disaster

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. [cite web|url=http://newsok.com/article/894007|title=Traffic flows again on I-40 bridge| NewsOK.com|publisher=newsok.com|date=30 July 2002|accessdate=2008-10-06]

See also

* List of bridge disasters
* List of crossings of the Arkansas River
* Tasman Bridge disaster - 7000 ton ore-carrier hit bridge piers causing collapse of roadway
* Granville railway disaster - Train hits piers
* Big Bayou Canot train disaster - Amtrak Train plunged off bridge that had been hit by a barge.

References

External links

* [http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/cepa/pubs/jul02/story2.htm Day-by-day account]
* [http://news.mywebpal.com/partners/858/public/news309482.html Article from 'The Oklahoma Daily']
* [http://newsok.com/article/894007 Article from 'The Oklahoman']
* [http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/05/26/barge.bridge/ Article from CNN]
* [http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2004/09/01/WashingtonDCBureau/282047.html Fainting spell led to barge crash, bridge collapse, NTSB concludes]
* [http://xpda.com/junkmail/junk116/i40/ Aerial Photo Gallery]