Photo courtesy of The Seattle TimesA large part of an Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River near Mount Vernon, Wash., collapsed Thursday evening after an oversize truck hit an overhead span of the bridge, says a report from Time.com.
Several vehicles fell into the river when it collapsed, though no one was injured. The collapse occurred about 60 miles north of Seattle, and detours are in place to mitigate congestion, says Time’s article.
The collapse apparently occurred after a truck made contact with the bridge, but investigators are still unsure whether the truck actually caused the bridge collapse or whether the crash occurred as the bridge was collapsing, reports say.
Authorities are unsure how long travel along the I-5 corridor will be affected, but the “corridor is totally disrupted” as of now, said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.
They Washington Department of Transportation did release information on detours though:
Traffic heading south should take eastbound State Route 20, then go south on South Burlington Boulevard and west on East College Way (SR 538) to reconnect with I-5.
Traffic heading north should take eastbound East College Way to northbound Riverside Drive-South Burlington Boulevard, then west on George Hopper Road to I-5. Northbound traffic can also use State Route 9 by taking Exit 221 to SR 534 east to northbound SR 9 to westbound SR20 to I-5.
Here’s the detour map issued by WDOT:
