Trucker bumps I-5 bridge, sees cars fall in
<p>A collapsed section of the Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River is seen in an aerial view Friday. Part of the bridge collapsed Thursday evening, sending cars and people into the water when a an oversized truck hit the span, the Washington State Patrol chief said. Three people were rescued from the water.</p>
<p>Bryce Kenning, 20, is seen sitting atop a car that fell into the Skagit River after the collapse of the Interstate 5 bridge there minutes earlier Thursday evening in Mount Vernon, Wash.</p>
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) - The trucker was hauling a load of drilling equipment when his load bumped against the steel framework over an Interstate 5 bridge. He looked in his rearview mirror and watched in horror as the span collapsed into the water behind him. Two vehicles fell into the icy Skagit River.
Amazingly, nobody died. The three people who fell into the water escaped with only minor injuries.
Officials are trying to find out whether the spectacular collapse of a bridge on one of the West's most important roadways was a fluke - or a sign of a bigger problem with thousands of bridges across the U.S.
Authorities focused first on trying to find a temporary span for the Skagit, although it won't come in time for the tens of thousands of Memorial Day vacationers who would travel between Canada and Seattle.
Officials were looking for a temporary, pre-fabricated bridge to replace the 160-foot section that failed, Inslee said Friday. If one is found, it could be in place in weeks. If not, it could be months before a replacement can be built, the governor said.
The spectacular collapse unfolded about 7 p.m. Thursday on the north end of the four-lane bridge near Mount Vernon, about 60 miles north of Seattle and 40 miles south of the Canada border.
"He looked in the mirrors and it just dropped out of sight," Cynthia Scott, the wife of truck driver William Scott, said from the couple's home near Spruce Grove, Alberta. "I spoke to him seconds after it happened. He was just horrified."
The truck driver works for Mullen Trucking in Alberta, the Washington State Patrol said. The tractor-trailer was hauling a housing for drilling equipment southbound when the top right front corner of the load struck several of the bridge's trusses.
Scott, 41, remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators. He voluntarily gave a blood sample for an alcohol test and was not arrested.
Initially, it wasn't clear if the bridge just gave way on its own. But Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste blamed it on the too-tall load. The vertical clearance from the roadway to the beam is 14.6 feet.
The truck made it off the bridge, but two other vehicles went into the water about 25 feet below as the structure crumbled.
Dan Sligh and his wife were in their pickup heading to a camping trip when he said the bridge before them disappeared in a "big puff of dust."
"I hit the brakes and we went off," Sligh told reporters from a hospital.
Bryce Kenning, of Mount Vernon, said the bridge seemed to explode in front of him. The 20-year-old slammed the brakes and could see the edge of the pavement approaching, but there was nothing he could do.