The Virginia Department of Transportation has suspended the contract awarded to Tree Tech, Inc., the tree trimming contractor working when a power line fell across I-264 Tuesday evening, the road to be closed for several hours.
The company had three, five-man teams working for VDOT on Tuesday, including one deployed on I-264 when the power line fell. VDOT says they were given inconsistent statements from the employees of Tree Tech following the incident.
The downed lines sparked a power outage around 4 p.m. Crews say this happened as a result of the tree trimming work. Wires also fell onto the Tide light rail's facilities and caused an outage there as well.
No one was injured. Most train customers were able to travel on buses while crews were making repairs. The line damaged three signal houses that are important to the light rail transit system. They are now being repaired.
The incident also snarled traffic for several hours as rush hour traffic from I-264 was rerouted.
Tree Tech’s contract will be suspended pending the outcome of a final VDOT investigation which will determine whether Tree Tech’s contract will be terminated.
