Stray piece of metal on bridge in West Virginia shreds multiple tires
CHEAT LAKE, W. Va. (KDKA) — It was an expensive Friday morning for some drivers traveling to Morgantown, West Virginia after multiple cars got flat tires on Interstate 68.
A spokesperson for the West Virginia Department of Transportation said around 9:30 a.m., a part of the bridge expansion joint on I-68 crossing Cheat Lake separated, causing steel to pop up on the road.
Some drivers we talked to said it happened much earlier than that.
"I got a call from my wife about (6:50 a.m.) and she said she got a flat tire on the interstate," said Josh Sowards. "I met her out there and I just crossed over (the bridge). I think I stayed in the left lane, luckily, and saw her flashers and stopped there, changed the tire and when I looked behind me I saw three or four other cars with their flashers on."
"I was on the way to drop off my son, James, about 8:40 this morning. We went across the 68 bridge and as we were going across there, there was a big piece of steel that seemed to be in the road," Ryan Shade said. "Cars were hitting it and busting their tires. We saw a car with its windshield that had a big divot in it about the size of a football."
Ryan Lenhart said he nearly lost control when he hit the piece of steel. He said he immediately pulled over onto the side of the road and called 911.
"I had a flat tire. There were probably three or four ahead of me and then parked right behind me was probably five or six," Lenhart said.
He was still on the side of Interstate 68 waiting for a tow truck when he said West Virginia Department of Transportation crews arrived.
"One of the DOH worker's trucks came, and they parked right beside whatever I hit was, and they looked like they tried to pick it up. They couldn't pick it up," Lenhart said. "They put cones down and drove away, but they put cones on kind of like the side, like the shoulder area, so they weren't really preventing anybody from going in the lane, so people were still driving through it," Lenhart said.
Drivers told KDKA-TV that it was hours before the right lane was closed to traffic.
"It would have been nice if they tried a little harder to close that lane," Lenhart said.
"I'd say it was at least a couple hours before somebody got there," Sowards said.
Lenhart said he expects to have a bill over $1,000 to replace his tires and for the cost of a tow.
"You lose one, you need to get all four replaced. That's going to cost me about $1,500," Sowards said.
The drivers involved that KDKA-TV talked to said they were just glad no one was injured.
"It started to get scary because they were running out of room to pull over. There was that many people pulled off," Lenhart said.
"It was a piece of steel, probably 3 to 4 feet. Cars are going over the bridge. It looks like it's a connector piece to the bridge," Shade said.
The West Virginia Department of Transportation said the cause of the separation remains under investigation. A spokesperson said no injuries were reported.
"The right lane westbound on this portion of I-68 is currently closed as WVDOH bridge crews work to replace the expansion joint. Crews are working to cut the old expansion joint out and weld a new expansion joint in. Crews are expected to have the right lane reopened by the end of the day. The left lane westbound on this bridge remains open," WVDOT said Friday afternoon.
WVDOT said drivers who experienced damage to their cars can file a claim through the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission by calling 304-347-4851 or 1-877-562-6878.