A semitruck hauling a log trailer had an unfortunate accident this morning at the Thrall Road Interstate 82 overpass, causing the closure of one lane for approximately 45 minutes.
Washington State Patrol Public Information Officer John Bryant said the incident happened at approximately 9 a.m. Friday, with WSP troopers receiving a call of the rig blocking a lane of traffic under the overpass on state Route 821. The rig was heading westbound on the road headed towards the Interstate 82 onramp.
“Troopers and DOT arrived on the scene and the truck was actually stuck under the overpass,” Bryant said. “They initially called a tow, but the trooper on scene said they were able to move the broken part a bit and get it out of there before the tow arrived.”
The one lane was blocked until 9:45 a.m. until the trailer could be removed from the overpass. Bryant said there were no injuries but said an WSDOT engineer will have to visit the overpass to inspect it for any structural damage. Bryant said any damage will not affect use of the overpass for Interstate 82.
“The driver was cited for failure to observe the height restrictions,” he said. “They will be contacted by DOT for any damage done to the structure. They’re worried about if he hit any chunks of cement up there and the cement’s loose. We don’t want a car driving under there and having a chunk of concrete falling on it.”
Bryant said incidents like the log truck being stuck are somewhat uncommon, and more often occurs on area interstates where oversize trailers fail to exit and use bypasses for height-restricted overpasses.
“There’s only a couple of times a year where that happens,” he said.
In the case of the log truck, he said the driver should have continued on Canyon Road and gotten on Interstate 90 at that entry point.
“It was daylight, and even if there was a bit of snow out the sign was pretty clearly marked,” he said. “He was just not paying attention.”
