The ramp was shut down for almost 18 hours on the heavily traveled ramp due to the 10 by 20 foot hole. Ohio Department of Transportation officials say the first priority is making the fixes, and then collecting the costs.
“We basically keep track of our workers and the contractor’s cost and then we bill the trucking company and the driver,” said Randy Chevalley, ODOT District 7 deputy director.
A contractor has already been hired, and repair work is slated to begin no later than Tuesday.
Troopers said they likely will ticket the truck driver, whose trailer also knocked concrete off a parapet barrier onto I-70 below. ODOT will work to collect for damage.
“That’s one of our main objectives: taxpayers should not be paying for someone to damage the system,” Chevalley said.
Some bills are high, such as a tanker truck that did $2 million in damage to a Columbus area freeway bridge. Others are in the tens of thousands, such as previous wrecks on flyover ramps involving trucks carrying beer, watermelon and lettuce. Some companies try to avoid paying up and the case gets elevated to the state attorney general’s office.
UPDATE @ 3:08 a.m. (Oct. 6)
The left lane of the I-75 north bridge/ramp to I-70 west is open to traffic, according to Ohio State Highway Patrol dispatchers.
Dispatchers said the right lane remains closed as crews work to repair the deck.
No timeline for when the work will be completed or additional details are available, according to dispatchers.
UPDATE @ 9:15 p.m. (Oct. 5)
Repair work continues tonight on the still-closed bridge/ramp from I-75 North to I-70 West, which was heavily damaged when a flatbed semi carrying massive steel coil overturned on it and dumped the coil this afternoon.
“If you can do anything to avoid this area, do that,” said Lt. Mark Nichols, with the Dayton Post Ohio Highway Patrol. “It’s going to be closed a very long time.”
One lane could be open by 10:30 p.m. and that’s a tentative estimate, according to workers with the Jurgensen Company, which is helping ODOT to put the bridge/ramp back together. Heavy duty ODOT trucks with large bumpers are situated on the ramp entrance to keep vehicles off of it.
The driver suffered minor injuries, refused treatment and did not require a trip to a hospital. But the impact of the flatbed and coil knocked a hole in the bridge deck — large enough to peer through to see I-70 below — and sent pieces of concrete from the barrier onto the eastbound lanes of I-70.
Other than the driver, no one was injured.
“At the end of the day, it’s a very large inconvenience,” Nichols said. “It’s catastrophic as far as traffic for this area, but no loss of life and no injury and we’ll take that all day.”
The plan has been to erect Jersey barriers to create a lane around the damage area to motorists can make their way onto I-70 west, the lieutenant said. A Jersey barrier or Jersey wall is a modular concrete or plastic barrier employed to separate lanes of traffic. They are used to reroute traffic and protect workers during highway construction.
Nichols said the semi driver will ultimately be charged once the state patrol’s investigation has been completed, but OSP wants to first determine whether speed or security of the load were factors.
Drugs and/or alcohol are not suspected at this point, Nichols said.
He suggests that motorists “take a deep breath” because “it’s gonna be a while” before repairs are completed and the bridge/ramp is fully functional.
“Try to keep control of your temper,” Nichols said.
UPDATE @ 3:50 p.m. (Oct. 5)
The ramp from I-75 North to I-70 West remains shut down as crews work to clean up a semitrailer that overturned and damaged the pavement and concrete wall.
The flatbed semitrailer was hauling a 56,000-pound roll of steel, according to an official at the scene.
The roll of steel came off the flatbed and left a large gash in the pavement on the ramp. The crash also damaged the concrete wall, sending concrete down onto I-70 East. The right lane on I-70 East is closed because of the debris.
FIRST REPORT (Oct. 5)
A semitrailer has overturned, shutting down the I-75 North ramp to I-70 West.
The crash happened around 1:30 p.m. There were no injuries reported.
Traffic on I-70 East was temporarily restricted because of debris that fell down onto the roadway from the ramp overpass.
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