Nov. 26 – Two bridges on the Will Rogers Turnpike south of Claremore remain closed after a semi-truck struck them on Nov. 21.
Lisa Shearer-Salim, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, said the East 540 and East 550 Road overpasses will remain closed until further notice.
Shearer-Salim said OTA is working with its consulting firm to conduct a full assessment of the bridges. OTA has declared a state of emergency to expedite repairs, she said, and the authority will close the lanes once repairs begin.
She said the bridges pose no danger to tollway drivers.
“It appears that almost every beam on both bridges is damaged,” Shearer-Salim said. “That would pose a serious safety risk to people who would be on those bridges.”
Mark Southall, a trooper with Troop B of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, said the incident occurred around 5 p.m. on Nov. 21 when an out-of-state licensed truck driver was traveling west on the turnpike.
Southall said that according to dashboard camera footage OHP obtained from another driver, the truck driver drove onto the East 540 Road overpass and stopped to see what had happened. The man then climbed back into his truck and shortly afterwards crashed into the East 550 Road bridge.
He said the driver faces two misdemeanor charges in Rogers County for leaving the scene of a collision.
“Sometimes we have these oversized charges that hit things, and they’re so big and they’re so large that they don’t realize they hit anything,” Southall said. “…But in this particular case, we feel he was fully aware he was hitting the bridge, as he got out, assessed the damage and drove away.”
The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority initially reported around noon Friday that the truck driver struck the bridges Friday morning. Both bridges have since been closed.
Southall said the confusion arose because OHP did not learn of the crash until Friday morning.
“A person who happened to have a video called us and said, ‘Hey, I have a video that might help you with this crash,’ and we said, ‘What crash are you talking about?’” Southall said. “At that point we knew there had been an accident that we had to investigate because the truck driver never called us to tell us he had driven onto the bridges.”
Shearer-Salim said there were no cars on the bridge when the crash occurred and no one was injured.
She said the incident illustrates the importance of trucking companies following safety guidelines. While Oklahoma limits the height of semi-trucks at 13 feet, 6 inches, both bridges allow a clearance of 15 feet.
“It is very concerning to have a vehicle this large in our system, and we want to encourage our transportation partners to ensure they get the proper permits and follow those routes correctly,” Shearer-Salim said.
