JONESBORO -- Highway officials closed an Interstate 555 overpass in west Jonesboro on Tuesday after a tractor-trailer rig struck its supports and burst into flames, killing the driver.
Police identified the driver as Jackie Becker, 57, of Jonesboro, a driver for YRC Worldwide in Overland Park, Kan.
Becker was traveling northbound on Interstate 555 at 8:45 a.m. when he swerved off the right side of the road and struck a concrete column that holds up the Harrisburg Road overpass, said Jonesboro Police Department spokesman Paul Holmes.
The truck burst into flames, sending billowing black smoke skyward. Becker was driving a tandem-trailer unit and was carrying general merchandise, Holmes said. There were no hazardous materials inside the truck, he said.
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Photos by Jonesboro Police Department and Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department
Photos by Jonesboro Police Department and Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department
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Craighead Coroner Toby Emerson said Becker died at the scene.
Authorities said Becker picked up a load of freight in Memphis and was headed to Kansas City.
Police closed the interstate and the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department rerouted northbound traffic through the Harrisburg Road exit and back onto the interstate on a nearby on-ramp.
The Interstate 555 southbound lane remains open.
Danny Straessle, a spokesman for the Highway Department, said bridge crews inspected the bridge Tuesday and determined the accident damaged the bridge's integrity and ordered the Harrisburg Road overpass closed indefinitely.
Three of the 10 beams supporting the bridge deck have no support and began sagging underneath the weight of the bridge, Straessle said.
It was possible a section of the overpass could have collapsed had traffic remained on it, he said.
The explosion and fire destroyed the first of four support columns on the northern edge of the overpass. The second and third columns received "heavy damage," Straessle said.
The fourth column suffered "spalling," which is the flaking and popping of concrete when moisture inside the column is heated by fire.
A 25-foot concrete horizontal section above the columns also was damaged, Straessle said.
"It left three steel beams with no support on the north segment of the overpass," he said. "The road sagged and the concrete cracked. There was a possibility of it falling.
"The fire and explosions were enough to wreak some havoc."
Workers will use jacks and heavy machinery to place timbers atop the damaged columns. Once completed, officials will open the two northbound lanes of the interstate. Straessle said he expected work to be done by the end of the week.
About 10,000 vehicles cross the bridge daily, the highway department said.
Arkansas State Police spokesman Liz Chapman said authorities were investigating the cause of the accident Tuesday afternoon.
State Desk on 06/28/2017
