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Bridge collapse injures man, closes parts of 29, 66
A former eastbound Interstate 66 bridge over Route 29 in Gainesville collapsed Monday afternoon, injuring a demolition subcontractor employee working on the project.The accident occurred at approximately 12:30 p.m. Two hours later, officials at the site said the man, who had been working from the bucket of an elevated man-lift, was conscious and not severely hurt when an ambulance transported him to Prince William Hospital.
His exact injuries were not released as of press time.
The part of the bridge that fell landed at a 45-degree angle across the eastbound lanes of Lee Highway (Route 29) and was part of a former overpass for I-66 that had already been replaced by a new bridge during ongoing improvements to the corridor.
Demolition crews were in the process of tearing down the defunct bridge when its beams slipped off their bearings and fell to the ground, according to Jon Harman, vice president of Shirley Contracting Company, the contractor working on removing the former section of I-66.
Police arrived on the scene “almost immediately,” Harman said, because squad cars were already stationed at the east and west entrances of Lee Highway, setting up a detour away from the demolition site.
Rescue crews from the Gainesville District Volunteer Fire Department showed up within five minutes, Harman said.
The detour ensured no vehicles were caught under the overpass at the time of the collapse.
According to Harman, safety risks associated with removing bridge beams were “exactly why” motorists were not allowed to use Lee Highway (Route 29) while crews worked on removing the bridge.
One public safety official at the scene said removing the collapsed bridge would be “probably a six or seven hour operation.”
He said a private investigator will be assigned to the scene to determine what exactly made the bridge collapse.
Virginia Department of Transportation area construction engineer Avtar Singh later added, “We're going to make sure eastbound is open by [the 5 a.m.] rush hour.”
Within three hours of the collapse, police blocked motorists from accessing the eastbound lanes of I-66 at the U.S. 15 Haymarket entrance ramp so demolition crews would not have to contend with traffic on a nearby bridge while they hauled away the old remains of the old bridge.
“Today is mainly to focus on getting everything out of the roadway,” said Harman.
Demolition began on former parts of the I-66 overpass two weeks ago, Singh said, starting with the steel beams furthest from Lee Highway itself. Westbound traffic had been closed last week while crews removed beams above the road.
Contractors were due to finish removing the bridge that collapsed by the end of the week.
After the collapse, Harman said the bridge pieces would be taken to a scrap yard.
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