I-5 closed for hours after truck loses load of huge steel tubes
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TACOMA, Wash. -- Interstate 5 in Tacoma was closed for hours overnight after two huge steel tubes fell off a truck and destroyed the cement barrier in the middle of the freeway.
Officials said the truck was heading to Seattle from Vancouver when a strap holding the two 20,000-pound drill casings broke late Wednesday, sending the tubes crashing across the northbound lanes near State Route 16.
"It's pretty amazing that no one was hit, even at 10 p.m. when this happened," said Washington State Patrol Sgt. Rick Smith. "A couple of cars rolled through the debris... but other than that, nobody was hurt."
The heavy steel tubes caused significant damage to the Jersey barriers that were hit, and Department of Transportation crews had to shut down both directions of I-5 while they replaced 10 sections of the barrier.
All lanes were reopened just after 5 a.m.
The truck driver was cited for failing to secure a load, and crews hoisted the tubes onto another truck.
Officials said the truck was heading to Seattle from Vancouver when a strap holding the two 20,000-pound drill casings broke late Wednesday, sending the tubes crashing across the northbound lanes near State Route 16.
"It's pretty amazing that no one was hit, even at 10 p.m. when this happened," said Washington State Patrol Sgt. Rick Smith. "A couple of cars rolled through the debris... but other than that, nobody was hurt."
The heavy steel tubes caused significant damage to the Jersey barriers that were hit, and Department of Transportation crews had to shut down both directions of I-5 while they replaced 10 sections of the barrier.
All lanes were reopened just after 5 a.m.
The truck driver was cited for failing to secure a load, and crews hoisted the tubes onto another truck.
Another non-union driver displaying his skills on the State's highways and byways. These boneheads are in the news everyday!
Been a lot of immigrants going into truck driving. They don't understand a lot of times that we try not to mickey mouse stuff as much as they do in foreign countries. As bad as some our truck drivers are getting you should look at the drivers they have in places like south amerika or India.lol @T_BONE_WALKER
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 @T_BONE_WALKER LOL troll
That fine needs to humongous...those loads are death waiting to happen.
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 @Total Khaos I don't call those "fines," I call those rewards for being in the trucking industry and not having to pay what's fair.  The driver should always be responsible for checking whatever tie-downs he's using to make sure they can handle the load.
Why couldn't the tubes be loaded back onto the same truck from which they fell?
When accidents happen with trucks sometimes the vehicles are impounded to check for any other safety violations. The good thing is a decade ago laws were passed in congress that if they find the owner of the company was involved in the negligence they can get jail time. And a couple of trucking owners have gone to jail. One of the big ones was Dick Simon. Thats why you don't see the old black stinky trucks running around any more. @katiemcc
I suppose it could have been worse, it could have been cows in a trailer that fell.. OH WAIT, that already happened :) Â Â
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That's just crazy either way, people need to get a handle on what they are hauling with how dangerous it all is... I think some people should re-take their CDL training courses or something..
Interesting...I saw a couple of flabeds a week ago heading south thru Everett and contemplated the mayhem that would happen if the chains holding the tubes in place ever failed.  Quite a mess
This is my area of expertise. The report says a "STRAP" holding the two casings BROKE! That was the mistake by using STRAPS and not CHAINS and BINDERS. The WSP is correct in citing the driver for "Unsecured Load."
That was a DEADLY mistake that could have been tragic. The driver and the truck company are lucky no one was injured or killed.
 @Suspishissofu You realize that the tensile strength of a fabric strap is stronger then the tensile strength of steel. Now, the steel is going to last longer and will hold its tensile strength. The strap will loose its ability to hold after repeated use.
@Suspishissofu Agreed, but it doesnt matter how well secured the load was when the trip started; if it fell off the vehicle for any reason then the driver gets cited.
Yep but you see flatbedders using straps on steel all the time and they never seem to get written up for it. Pretty lucky someone wasn't killed. @Suspishissofu
Vancouver, WA or Canada?
It makes a difference because those Canadian truck drivers are nuts!
@HonkeyCat
For your info Tacoma is between Vancouver Wa and Seattle.
Holy COW! Wouldn't you just love to see THAT coming at you as you drive down the interstate?!! I hope they fine the hell out of driver and company for failure to secure that the article says the driver was cited for... maybe we should have the fines be per pound?!