A large commercial dump truck collided with, and then came to a rest on top of, a jersey barrier on the West Seattle Bridge, impacting traffic for much of Tuesday morning and afternoon. City agencies closed several lanes on the bridge and removed the truck by late-morning, reopening the bridge around 2 PM.
At approximately 8:15 Tuesday morning, officers responded to a report of a collision on the West Seattle Bridge, westbound at the Spokane/Delridge Way exit. A large commercial dump truck that was traveling westbound on the bridge struck the jersey barrier, left the road, and came to rest on top of the barrier. When officers arrived they observed that the dump truck’s entire front end–both wheels and axles–had broken off and were resting in the two eastbound lanes closest to the median. There was a large amount of debris in the eastbound lanes, as well as a large diesel fuel spill that covered both the eastbound and westbound lanes. Two vehicles traveling eastbound at the time of the collision were also struck by flying debris, causing minor damage.
The driver of the truck sustained minor injuries and was transported to the hospital. No other injuries were reported.
SDOT and Seattle Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement also responded to the scene. Two heavy-duty tow trucks with cranes responded to assist with the removal of the dump truck. SDOT then removed the debris and cleaned the diesel spill from the roadway.
SDOT worked on repairing the damaged barriers as lanes of travel were reopened to traffic. The driver was not cited at the scene, however, this collision is still under investigation.