Posted on 03/20/2013 2:30:31 PM PDT by Red Badger
FORTWALTON BEACH-- A barge with a crane on it crashed into the west side of the Brooks Bridge Thursday afternoon.
The impact took down several feet of concrete guard rail and cracked pipes that run under the bridge. The crash occurred about 3:15 p.m.
Concrete and water immediately started pouring down into the Santa Rosa Sound. No injuries were reported.
The bridge is closed to all traffic until Department of Transportation engineers can assess any structural damage.
Two tugboats were on either side of the barge to push it under the bridge.
It is unknown if there were any injuries. Firefighters and paramedics are on the scene to look for any possible injuries on the boats that were underneath the bridge.
A couple who witnessed the barge hitting the bridge said the barge kept going forward as the equipment went backwards and hit the barges behind it.
They said it took about 15 seconds for the barge to stop and reverse, but by that time conrete, rails and water had started coming down.
About 2 feet of the guard railing along the bridge appears to be destroyed. There is minor damage to the road, according to people at the scene.
Department of Transportation engeineers are en route to the bridge to asses the damage.
"We'll have a better idea what is going on with the bridge after we get as assessment," said Ian Satter, a spokesman for the DOT.
The Okaloosa Sheriff's Office is directing motorists to use the Mid-Bay Bridge as an alternate route.
Okaloosa County Water and Sewer Director Jeff Littrell said he and his staff are trying to reach the bridge but have been delayed by traffic congestion. Onlookers have reported water shooting from the pipes that run over the bridge.
"We don't know how bad the leaks are in the pipes," Littrell said. "We have a 16-inch water main that runs across the bridge. That is the water supply to Okaloosa Island."
Littrell said he is monitoring the water levels in the island's three water tanks and the system has not lost pressure.
"We've got 900,000 gallons of storage we can rely on. … We may need to close valves on the other side of the bridge," Littrell said, adding that he's sent workers through Niceville to reach Okaloosa Island because Brooks Bridge is closed.quot;We'll have a better idea what is going on with the bridge after we get as assessment,
All Okaloosa County School buses were across the bridge before the barge struck, according to Okaloosa County Superintendent Mary Beth Jackson.
Transportation officials are currently working on different routes for tomorrow morning, so delays are possible, she said.
Students in the county only have one more day of school before they go on spring break, so Jackson hopes they can keep inconvenience for famlies at a minimum.
"We'll just take it one day at a time," she said. "We'll have time over spring break to really figure it out."
Although water lines on the bridge appeared to have ruptured in the collision, the gas lines from Okaloosa Gas are underwater along the bridge and were not damaged, said Eddie Springle, vice president of marketing for Okaloosa Gas.
Gonna be one hell of a TRAFFIC JAM with Spring Break in full swing!..........
Hope you don’t live on the island!.......gonna be a loooong drive home..........
When did this happen? Thursday afternoon?
It’s what barges do. They barge into things.
"We don't know how bad the leaks are in the pipes," Littrell said. "We have a 16-inch water main that runs across the bridge. That is the water supply to Okaloosa Island."
Ouch! Lived there for the past few years, moved back last fall. That’s going to really snarl things up for a lot of people. I knew people who lived in FWB and work in Destin, they’re not going to be amused.
3:15 CDT this afternoon........
Midbay Bridge is gonna have a huge increase in toll collections for a while...........
From the pics it looks pretty bad........
Traffic will back up from Panama City east to Pensacola west.........
My better half and I have always preferred Destin as a beach vacation destination, even when we lived 30 miles from Gulf Shores. Planning on going to Henderson Park Inn (again) in October.
Smart - they have lifted the tolls charges on the Mid Bay Bridge to help traffic move faster! Traffic is a mess....
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