Eastbound I-70 reopens after semi hits bridge

BENNETT – Eastbound Interstate 70 was reopened just after noon on Sunday after being closed several hours because a semi crashed into a support pillar of a bridge, which spans over the interstate.

Colorado Department of Transportation says eastbound I-70 was reopened after temporary supports were put in place to stabilize the bridge after the semi, which was hauling hashbrowns and French fries, crashed into it at about 3 a.m.

CDOT says the crash happened on eastbound I-70 just east of milepost 306, on the bridge leading to the Bennett Rest Area.

Troopers say 54-year-old James Strauss of Oklahoma City, Okla., was driving east in a fully-loaded semi-truck on I-70, when his vehicle went off the right side of the highway, between an embankment and a guardrail.

The semi-truck then rolled onto its right side and slid down an embankment where it struck the concrete support pillar under I-70, leaving it entangled within the remaining support pillars under the overpass, according to the state patrol.

CDOT says Strauss sustained serious injuries and was airlifted from the scene and brought to Aurora South.

Bridge engineers for CDOT were sent to the scene to assess the stability of the bridge. When they arrived, they determined the bridge was too unstable to allow any traffic to pass and kept the stretch closed until temporary supports were put in place.

CDOT is working to remove the semi from underneath the bridge and clean up the French fries and hashbrowns which spilled out of the semi in the crash.

According to CDOT, they will meet with contractors on Sunday to discuss permanent repair plans.

Troopers say alcohol, drugs and speed are not suspected to have contributed to the crash. However, they believe driver fatigue contributed to the crash.

Traffic was being detoured off the roadway at milepost 304 and then diverted onto US 36 through Strasburg and back onto I-70, from 3 a.m. until just after noon.

Bennett is about 35 miles east of Denver.