JONESBORO -- Two lanes of a five-lane Interstate 555 overpass in Jonesboro are reopen to traffic after a tractor-trailer struck its support columns and exploded Tuesday, state highway officials said.
Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department crews closed the Harrisburg Road overpass after the crash, saying the overpass was sagging and they feared it could collapse. Initially, bridge inspectors said it would take months before the overpass could be reopened.
"Our heavy-bridge crew worked overnight to restore traffic," Highway Department spokesman Danny Straessle said Thursday. "They did an excellent job."
Jackie Becker, 57, of Jonesboro was killed in the crash. Police said Becker was driving north on I-555 when the truck ran off the road about 8:45 a.m. Tuesday. The truck, which was traveling from Memphis to Kansas City, hit the support columns and burst into flames.
Police said the truck was not hauling hazardous or explosive materials, and they surmised that the rig's gasoline tanks ruptured, causing the explosion. The blast destroyed one support column and damaged three others.
Crews routed traffic off the interstate Tuesday at Exit 44 and then back onto the roadway just past the Harrisburg overpass. They also closed one of the I-555 northbound lanes.
Workers reopened both northbound lanes to traffic at 10:37 p.m. Wednesday, Straessle said.
The two northern lanes of Harrisburg Road, which are the farthest from the destroyed column, were opened at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, he said.
About 10,000 cars travel across the overpass daily, the Highway Department reported.
Highway crews will begin framing a new column today and are expected to pour concrete within a day, Straessle said.
He said he did not know when all five lanes of the Harrisburg Road overpass will reopen.
State Desk on 06/30/2017