One Killed by Falling Beams After 18-Wheeler Hits Texas Bridge

One man was reported killed and three injured on March 26 after a tractor trailer truck hit the FM 2484 overpass bridge on Interstate 35 in Central Texas, causing beams to fall on the traffic below.

The bridge near the town of Salado, about 40 miles north of Austin, was under construction. The accident occurred around 11 a.m., a Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) spokesman said.

TxDOT reported it shut down both lanes of traffic on the heavily used interstate between Georgetown and Killeen on Thursday following the accident. The roadway was reopened by Friday morning.

Engineers from the transportation agency indicated that the impact of what appeared to be an over-size tractor trailer truck caused several beams to become dislodged and fall onto the roadway, according to TxDOT The fatality occurred when one of the beams fell onto a pickup truck driving in the opposite direction of the tractor trailer.

TxDOT said the vertical clearance of the FM 2484 bridge is 14 feet 1/2 inch. The agency said three signs were posted on the approach to the bridge that gave a vertical clearance of 13 ft. 6 inches (one sign at 2 miles; one at 1 mile; and one at the exit).

A TxDOT spokesman said it appeared that the semi was over the height of the bridge but that the investigation was continuing to determine the details of the incident. At a press conference on Thursday, a state trooper said in total, two 18-wheelers and three other vehicles, including the truck of the man who was killed, were impacted by the accident.

The Austin American-Statesman reported that the 18-wheeler that hit the bridge had not been authorized by the Department of Motor Vehicles to haul an over-sized load.

Topics Texas Numbers