I-40 bridge disaster

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The I-40 Bridge Disaster occurred on May 26, 2002, when a barge collided with a bridge support near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, causing a 580 foot (180 m) section of the I-40 bridge to plunge into the Arkansas River. Joe Dedmon, captain of the tugboat Robert Y. Love, experienced a blackout and lost control of the ship. Due to the location of the accident, automobiles and tractor trailers fell into the water, killing fourteen people.

1 The victims
2 The rescued
3 Hindsight
4 Similar accidents
5 Bridge reopens
6 See also
7 Sources

[edit] The victims

Andrew Clements, 35, who was traveling from California to Woodbridge, VA.
Jeanine Cawley, 48, of Lebanon, OR.
Margaret Green, 45, of Stockdale, TX
Gail Shanahan, 49, of Corpus Christi, TX
Misty Johnson, 28, of Lavaca, AR. (The Johnson family was on their way to the Tulsa Zoo.)
Shea Nicole Johnson, 3, of Lavaca, AR.
James Johnson, 30, of Lavaca, AR.
Paul Tailele Jr., 39, of Magna, UT.
Wayne Martin, 49, of Norman, OK.
Susan Martin, 49, of Norman, OK.
Jerry Gillion, 58, of Spiro, OK.
Patricia Gillion, 57, of Spiro, OK.
David Mueggenborg, 52, of Okarche, OK.
Jean Mueggenborg, 51, also of Okarche, OK.

The medical examiner ruled the manner of death an accident on all 14 victims. Drowning was the cause of death on 13 of the casualties. The medical examiner ruled Clements’ cause of death to be blunt trauma to the head.

[edit] The rescued

Rodney Tidwell, 37, Ripley, Miss.
Max Alley, 67, Stroud
Goldie Alley, 68, Stroud

[edit] Hindsight

The bridge was actually two bridges side by side each carrying one carriageway of the freeway. These bridges were so close together that the barge knocked both down. In hindsight, the carriageways should have been some distance apart so the barge would have collapsed only one bridge.

[edit] Similar accidents

Granville railway disaster - vehicle hits piers

[edit] Bridge reopens

An estimated 20,000 vehicles per day were rerouted for about two months while crews rebuilt the bridge. Traffic resumed Monday, July 29, 2002. The reopening set a new national record for such a project, which would usually take six months, according to Federal Highway Administrator Mary Peters.