Engineers admit retaining wall was not designed to forestall truck rollovers after fiery deadly crash
An investigation right into a freeway’s infrastructure is underway after a trucker died in a fiery crash off an overpass this week, elevating questions concerning the design of the barrier partitions.
The crash occurred Tuesday afternoon on the intersection of U.S. 75 and Stacy Street in Allen, Texas earlier this week, not removed from a wreck final week that killed one other driver after he fell out of his cab because it dangled off the identical interstate.
As police examine Tuesday’s crash, questions are being raised over the design of the 7-year-old barrier wall that engineers admit was not even designed to include a automobile the scale of a semi truck, reported KVUE ABC.
A Texas Division of Transportation spokesperson mentioned that the part of U.S. 75 at Stacy Street the place the accident was widened in 2015, and the present barrier was put in at the moment.
“The aim of a barrier wall is to forestall drop-offs,” TxDOT mentioned in an announcement. “All barrier designs have been crash examined earlier than set up. All deadly crashes are reviewed to find out if any infrastructure actions are warranted.”
Throughout investigations, William Williams, a analysis engineer with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, recognized the barrier in each crashes as a 32-inch TL-4 construction. TL, or Check Degree-4. These boundaries are designed to include a “single unit truck, automobile or pickup.” Williams mentioned this barrier was the usual in 2015, however that “It’s not designed and meant to include and redirect massive 18-wheeler automobiles. It may possibly in some instances. Nevertheless it’s typically not designed and meant for that goal on this explicit bridge.”
Tuesday’s incident remains to be underneath investigation.
