Logging truck wreck
A logging truck that wrecked Wednesday morning causing a major interstate traffic back-up in Charleston may have been loaded incorrectly.
Charleston City Police Sgt. Nick Null tells MetroNews an eyewitness told police the load of logs appeared to be on the truck improperly and the truck driver said it’s possible a strap broke before he drove into the Interstate 64 eastbound curve just before the Eugene A. Carter Memorial Bridge.
“He (the truck driver) said he felt the load of logs shift and it forced the trailer over to the right, toward the river side barrier wall, subsequently lost control and rolled over on the side and all the logs came out and created a six-hour problem,” Sgt. Null said.
The driver was not injured.
All three lanes of I-64 were blocked from 3:30 a.m. to approximately 9:30 a.m.
Sgt. Null says it didn’t take long for traffic jams once morning rush hour traffic picked up.
“When you’ve got three lanes of traffic coming into town and thousands of people, there’s no good option,” Null said.
Motorists were trying all of the other routes into Charleston but places like MacCorkle Ave, 7th Ave., Route 25 and Kanawha Blvd. quickly backed up.
Sgt. Null believes the clean-up went well considering the seriousness of the accident.
“They had to flip the trailer part and the tractor back up and then had to painstakingly with an end-loader start stacking the logs and then another loader loaded each log one at a time back on the truck,” Null said. “Then we had to get a street sweeper to clean-up the mud and sticks.”
The driver is from the local area. He was taking the logs to an operation in Flatwoods, Braxton County. He was not ticketed by Charleston Police, but state agencies that oversee commercial trucking are investigating.
PREVIOUS There’s a mess to clean up this morning on busy Interstate 64 eastbound into Charleston.
WV DOT 511
The driver of a log truck lost control of the vehicle Wednesday morning at around 3:30 in the curve just before the Eugene A. Carter Bridge in Charleston. The logs spilled across the three lanes of the interstate and it remains closed this morning.
Charleston Police hope to have the highway reopened by mid-morning.
The wreck has major morning rush hour traffic problems in Charleston. I-64 east has the heaviest traffic load coming into Charleston each weekday. South Charleston Police closed the Montrose exit and Kanawha Turnpike entrance ramps to cut down on bottlenecks.
The westbound lanes of Interstate 64 are open.
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Comments
Frank Priddy
It took me about an extra half hour or so to get to work at columbia gas building this morning. I left early to
February 20, 2013 at 8:04 am | Report comment
JumpingJim
Where is Obama when you need him? Log trucks are obviously a danger to society. Just think if a mini van with a family inside had been next to that truck!
February 20, 2013 at 8:43 am | Report comment
Uncle Unctuous
A flippant comment. You don't see that on the Internet every day! But it's true, if you ban everything that might kill a person, where would we be? I mean, my arsenic and hemlock sports drink business wouldn't stand a chance.
February 20, 2013 at 12:05 pm | Report comment
Beverly Robinson
And how is the driver?
February 20, 2013 at 9:02 am | Report comment
Realistically
Beverley: Read the article.
February 20, 2013 at 1:56 pm | Report comment
GregG
"Sgt. Null believes the clean-up went well considering the seriousness of the accident." It was a load of logs! It took six hours to load a trailer of logs? What would they have done if this would have been a chemical tanker? I bet some of them good ol' boys that sale firewood on Cor.G would have had it cut, spilt and sold in less than 6 hours. One would think with all the log trucks in this state, one with a loader could have been brought in and had the logs loaded on another truck in a matter of minutes. It doesn't take them 6 hours to load a truck. If there ever is a "real" accident on our roadways, I guess this State would have to shut down for a month.
February 20, 2013 at 2:28 pm | Report comment
jake 123
from living in braxton co i get to see a
lot of log trucks coming into flatwoods ,,,,i am glad it had a stap securing the load,lots just have a skinny chain .All of the loads are overweight due to the fact this is junk logs purchased by the ton cheap.The reason he was travelin at 330 am is to beat the scales and other law enforcement....these loads are all weighed and most would be astounded by how overloaded these
trucks are and what poor shape they are in ... more profit for everyone
February 21, 2013 at 12:17 pm | Report comment