Accident closes Chicago expressway
A portion of the northbound lanes of the Bishop Ford expressway on Chicago's South Side are expected to be closed through the weekend after a dump truck hit the underside of a bridge overpass.
Fire officials closed the roadway in both directions and diverted traffic off a frontage road at 115th Street for a few hours. At 1:45 p.m., two southbound lanes were reopened.
Transportation officials did not know how much longer the other lane closures will be in place. They also cautioned that the southbound lanes will close again when work begins to remove the dump truck wedged under the 115th Street overpass. The overpass was also closed.
"We are obviously concerned about the safety of the structure," said Mike Claffey, Illinois Department of Transportation. Claffey said bridge experts were on their way.
"If it needs to be shored up, we'll take care of it as quickly as possible," Claffey said. "We're not going to take any chances with anyone's safety so we're shutting down the area in both directions."
Claffey suggested drivers take the Chicago Skyway or Halsted Street as alternatives.
"There is a lot of damage on the bridge. The first girder is moved over and distorted quite heavily," said the Chicago Fire Department's Larry Langford. "The truck's wheels came off and are in the middle of the freeway. We're getting our fire apparatus out of here and turning it over to IDOT. But it's obvious the inbound side is going to be shut down for some time."
The driver of the dump truck was taken to the hospital. Two people -- a man and his 11-year-old son -- were in a red compact sedan that rear-ended the truck. Carlos Sinaloa and son Angel appeared to be OK, officials said. The dump truck driver is expected to recover.
The dump truck lost its load, which appeared to be gravel. The crash also spilled diesel fuel, which crews were working to clean up.
Witnesses say they saw the northbound dump truck's load rising as it approached the 115th Street overpass at expressway speed.
The impact bent the horizontal steel beam that supports the overpass and lifted the bridge's re-enforced concrete side panel, sending chunks of it to the pavement below.