Driver Tells NTSB He Felt ‘Crowded’ Before Washington I-5 Bridge Collapse
In a preliminary report about the May 23 Interstate 5 bridge collapse in Washington state, the National Transportation Safety Board said a truck driver may have swerved to the right on the bridge just before it collapsed because he felt “crowded” by another truck passing him.
Meanwhile, the Washington State Department of Transportation said the temporary replacement spans on the bridge will likely be ready for traffic next week.
The report, released Tuesday, reiterated statements that a truck’s oversized load hit the truss structure of the bridge, which caused a section to collapse into the Skagit River.
The Washington State Patrol has identified that truck as belonging to Mullen Trucking, based in Aldersyde, Alberta. But witnesses told NTSB investigators that another truck passed the Mullen truck on the left as both approached the bridge.
“The driver of the oversize load reported to investigators that he felt ‘crowded’ by the passing combination vehicle so he moved his vehicle to the right,” NTSB said.
NTSB did not say whether the driver moving to the right caused the hit the initiated the collapse. But the truss structure had damage in multiple places, the board said.
In a Monday statement, WSDOT said one of the temporary spans on the I-5 bridge has been put into place, and crews were ready to begin work on the other span. Each span will carry two lanes of the four-lane highway.
“Getting to this point hasn’t been easy,” Jay Drye, assistant regional administrator for WSDOT, said in the statement. “Each step of removing and replacing the damaged bridge span has to be carefully choreographed to maximize efficiency, speed and safety.”
