INSTITUTE, W.Va. — Travelers headed into Charleston from the west Saturday morning got an unscheduled tour of the town’s of Institute and Dunbar. A truck hauling concrete overturned in a sharp curve at the exit, forcing a long detour around the accident scene.
“It spilled its load,” said Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Bryan Humphreys. “Then the overturned truck caught fire and shut down the interstate for several hours.”
The driver was transported to the hospital. His condition is unknown. Traffic was detoured off the Institute exit and along Route 25 to Dunbar to re-enter the highway.
The wreck happened within a work zone where crews are spending nighttime hours paving the road from Institue to Dunbar. The work zone speed limit is 55 mph. Investigators are attempting to determine whether the driver was traveling at a high rate of speed and what caused the truck to flip.
Crews used a crane to upright the rig and were able to clear the scene by 10:30 a.m. Saturday.