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Team coverageA crash last night on I-15 in Utah County has UDOT planning to tear down an overpass bridge. The crash involved a semi truck with an oversized load that hit the low-clearance bridge. And it's not the first time it's happened.
The crash last night closed the freeway for more than an hour. Two people escaped with just minor injuries; one of them underwent surgery on a broken ankle this morning. Now plans are being expedited to tear the bridge down, before there is another accident.
The truck had a load that took it up to 15 feet tall. The clearance for the overpass is 14 feet 7 inches.
When the truck hit the overpass, a couple of empty tanks came off the semi. That clogged the interstate, caused an SUV to catch fire and burn, and damaged the Sam White Bridge.
Barriers now block the road to the Sam White Bridge, used for decades, especially by locals to get east and west. In fact, it may be a bit too popular. Some motorists drove right past the barriers to still cross.
Adan Carrillo, Spokesman for UDOT, said, "In the meantime, this bridge will remain closed, we will not be allowing any traffic over it. It is safe for traffic to go underneath it on I-15. However, because it has been hit so many times, we don't want to take any chances in opening it back up to traffic."
UDOT blames the driver of the semi for causing the accident. It's the latest involving this overpass bridge, caused by trucks with oversized loads. UDOT says drivers are warned of the low overpass when they get their oversize permits.
"That permit specifies which bridges they are allowed or not allowed to go under, and this bridge in American Fork has two signs well before you get to the bridge, and there is also another sign on the bridge that lets people know the clearance, which is 14 feet 7 inches," Carrillo said.
This bridge was already slated to be removed in anticipation of the major I-15 rebuild in Utah County, now planned to begin in 2010. But now the bridge will go away much sooner than expected.
"Our plans would have been to keep this bridge open for as long as we could, but because this bridge tends to get hit so often, we actually started thinking about demolishing it this fall, and last night's incident will help us expedite this demolition," Carrillo said.
Matt Mellville, who works at Stewart's RV on the bridge's east end, says the real problem has been on the freeway. "Semis believe they can get underneath it, and as they're going underneath, it's tearing off the top of the semi and, you know, leaving debris all over the freeway."
UDOT plans some public comment meetings in the immediate future, before having this bridge demolished.
Drivers will have to use either the nearby 500 East or Pleasant Grove interchanges as a detour.
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