Tractor-trailer crash on flyover ramp sends concrete debris onto I-70 below
A tractor-trailer crashed Sunday night on the Interstate 70/79 flyover ramp in South Strabane Township, sending chunks of the concrete barrier’s wall raining onto I-70 below and damaging four vehicles that struck the debris.
The crash happened about 7:30 p.m. when the rig veered into the barrier and blasted a large hole in the concrete wall, forcing the closure of the flyover ramp for several hours, South Strabane Township fire Chief Jordan Cramer said.
Chunks of concrete fell into the westbound lanes of I-70 and were struck by a tractor-trailer, a pickup truck and two SUVs. All four vehicles were severely damaged and disabled after striking the debris, but Cramer said no one was injured.
“We are incredibly lucky that it did not fall on a windshield of a vehicle, because then we’d be dealing with something other than just property damage,” Cramer said.
Cramer said firefighters initially responded to the flyover ramp crash involving the tractor-trailer, which jackknifed and blocked the interchange, but they soon realized there were issues below. Some of the damaged vehicles were immediately undriveable, while others stopped a little farther down the highway.
Firefighters were able to request the state Department of Transportation dispatch a plow truck to literally scrape the chunks of concrete off I-70 in order to keep traffic moving in the westbound lanes.
“It took a little while for us to be notified that there was a significant situation occurring underneath (the flyover ramp),” Cramer said. “A PennDOT truck essentially plowed everything off the roadway so we could keep it open.”
South Strabane firefighters were on scene for about three hours to help clear the wreckage, but PennDOT crews remained on the flyover ramp while making repairs to the concrete barrier. Traffic traveling north on I-79 was detoured to I-70 east while the flyover ramp was closed.
It was the second crash on the flyover ramp Sunday and one of several on the interstates and other main roadways as snow pounded the region. Another tractor-trailer jack-knifed in the westbound lanes of I-70 near the Jefferson Avenue exit earlier in the afternoon, causing delays there.