The bridge is typically used by about 20,000 vehicles a day and the interstate is one of the main transport links between the East and West Coasts. He also indicated that the I-40 bridge was in sight when he left the pilot house," he said. "A deck hand visited with the captain in the pilot house he said five to 10 minutes before the collision. "They indicated that the collision alarm and the collision whistle did not occur until after the impact, which would indicate some sort of incapacitation on the part of the captain," Black said. The crew gave information that would confirm some incapacitation of Dedmon, Black said. Initial drug and alcohol tests on Dedmon, who has 30 years experience piloting river boats, were negative, police said.īlack said the NTSB had interviewed Dedmon and five crew members of the tugboat which was guiding the two 500-foot (150 metre) barges. National Transportation Safety Board investigator George Black told NBC's "Today" program the captain of the tug, Joe Dedmon, 61, suffered "some incapacitation" before the accident.Ī spokesman for the owners of the barges have previously said they believed Dedmon suffered a blackout. The final death toll is expected to be at least 17, officials said, adding it could be higher if more vehicles were lying undetected under massive slabs of the collapsed bridge. Ten vehicles have already been recovered and sonar mapping of the river bed indicates another seven are probably still submerged in about 11 feet (3.5 metres) of swiftly moving water. The vehicles dropped about 100 feet (30 metres) and slammed into each other, forming a mangled pile of metal in the rain-swollen river. “I think this incident really brought attention to bridge conditions in general, not necessarily this bridge because it was in good shape, but detour routes so our bridges are now in the top 10 good bridges in the country from the bottom worst.”Īngier continued, “The main channel the two piers had pier protection but this allowed us to also learn to put them on the other piers because the barge basically went off course and also the fact that upstream is where we were putting them and now we’re putting them on north sides.WEBBERS FALLS, Okla., May 28 (Reuters) - Rescue workers at a bridge collapse on the Arkansas River recovered six more bodies on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 13, as a sonar-guided crane helped hunt for cars and trucks submerged in the murky water.Īt least 17 vehicles, and perhaps more, were thrown from the bridge when two connected barges guided by a tug struck the span, collapsing a 500-foot (150-metre) section, on a major east-west thoroughfare on Sunday. She said the collapsed helped bring changes to way bridges are built in Oklahoma Terri Angier was the spokesperson for ODOT at the time “Some of those names just stick In your heads you don’t ever get rid of them… you lose a part of yourself but another part of it is it’s an honor to be able to serve people that way.” “If there is anything out of the death of my niece it is the fact that it’s like we’re coming home to our other family the way Webbers Falls has been to us since that accident has been it’s not even describable,” said Barlow.Ĭhris West is currently a Canadian county sheriff, but 20 years ago he was a lieutenant on patrol on the day of a tragedy. She said the community of Webbers Falls has become like family to her. “We find the good in what is left here what is left behind in life.” Barlow said the families of the victims and the survivors have formed lasting bonds. Janette Barlows’s neice, Gail Shanahan, died while pulling a trailer over the bridge. “It’s been 20 years and we miss our family every day … Shae would have been turning 24 in August, she was not even four-years-old when it happened,” said Schulterman. Three-year-old Shae, would have been turning 24 this year. >MORE: People in north Tulsa say bridge is falling apart “It seems like it’s not for real, it’s like a dream or a nightmare that you keep reliving but it gets a, I guess, a little bit better every year, but you still miss them so much,” said Schulterman. Teresa Schulterman and Billie Eppler lost three members of their family: James and Misty Johnson and three-year-old Shae Johnson. The tragedy helped highlight the need for more highway funding in Oklahoma, and the state moved from 49th in the nation to 7th for highway bridge conditions after the collapse. The bridge was rebuilt in record time -reopening in just 64 days. The memorial stands on the banks of the river near the bridge, featuring a little girl and a dove. A ceremony was held with survivors and victims travelling from Texas and Arkansas.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |