Interstate 35 Reopens In Central Texas After 1 Killed When Truck Hits Bridge

Update, Friday morning: All lanes of Interstate 35 have reopened in Central Texas after a deadly accident involving a tractor-trailer that slammed into a bridge beam in a construction zone.

The Texas Department of Transportation says I-35 at Salado, about 40 miles north of Austin, fully reopened before dawn on Friday.

One man was killed and three other people were hurt during the wreck late Thursday morning. Traffic was backed up for miles along the interstate, a main north-south roadway through Texas.

The Texas Department of Public Safety says an 18-wheeler hit and brought down a construction beam over I-35. The beam fell onto a pickup truck traveling in the opposite direction, killing the driver.

Debris tumbled on to the interstate, destroying or damaging several vehicles.

Update, Thursday afternoon: Investigators say the driver of a pickup truck was killed in an accident involving a tractor-trailer that slammed into construction beams along Interstate 35 in Central Texas.

 
The Texas Department of Public Safety says the 32-year-old Arlington man died when a beam fell onto his truck during the Thursday accident. Other details weren't immediately released.
 
Investigators say the oversized 18-wheeler hit beams being used to build an overpass along Interstate 35 in Salado, about 40 miles north of Austin. The accident halted traffic in both directions.
 
DPS Trooper D.L. Wilson says three other people were injured.
 
A crane has been brought in to help clear the wreckage.
 
Department of Transportation spokeswoman Becky Ozuna says the truck hit a beam being used to build a bridge across Interstate 35. She says debris then toppled onto other the interstate and was struck by vehicles.
 
Ozuna says traffic is stopped in both directions along the interstate, which is a primary north-south artery through Texas.
 
The truck came to a stop under the overpass with its cab heavily damaged.
 
Traffic detours in Salado
 
TxDOT passes along details about traffic detours: Northbound traffic will be detoured at FM 2268, then take State Highway 95 in Holland to Loop 363 to Interstate 35 in Temple. Southbound traffic will be detoured at Loop 363 north to State Highway 95 and then back to Interstate 35 on FM 2268
 
Earlier story: Emergency personnel are responding to a reported bridge collapse along Interstate 35 in Central Texas.

The Bell County Sheriff's Department says the accident happened late Thursday morning in Salado. That's about 40 miles north of Austin.

Lt. Donnie Adams says traffic has been halted in both directions following what he describes as a bridge collapse. 

1 dead, Texas DPS says

The Texas Department of Public Safety says at least one person is dead,the Waco Tribune-Herald reports.

TxDOT engineers on the scene

The Texas Department of Transportation reports that Interstate 35 is closed in both directions north of Salado. "TxDOT engineers on the scene providing preliminary reports that indicate an oversize truck hit a bridge that was under construction at FM 2484 and I-35 on the north side of Salado," TxDOT says. "This impact caused a couple of beams to fall. Law enforcement are working the scene as we hear a several vehicles hit the fallen beams."

Here’s a picture from KWTX-TV, the CBS affiliate in Waco.