NORFOLK, Va. — Traffic was diverted from the Downtown Tunnel for several hours Wednesday after a garbage truck's forks hit the tunnel's ceiling and got stuck inside, according to Elizabeth River Crossings (ERC).
The company, which operates the tunnel, says there are measures in place to try to prevent drivers from entering the tunnel if their vehicle is too tall. These include an over-height detector system with visual and audible alarms that warn drivers as they approach the tunnel.
They shared a timeline with News 3 breaking down the warning attempts made during Wednesday's incident, as well as the efforts to get the truck out of the tunnel.
The following information was provided by Elizabeth River Crossings:
- At 2:59 p.m., an alarm was indicated at an over-height detector. The trash truck failed to stop at Station 3 for inspection.
- About 45 seconds later, the over-height detector engaged a full stop of the I-264 westbound lane.
- Just before 3 p.m., a patroller was able to stop the truck and direct the driver to turn around. The driver disregarded the patroller’s instructions and proceeded towards the tunnel.
- At 3:01 p.m., the truck entered the tunnel and struck its cut and cover section. The truck became wedged inside the tunnel. All traffic advisories were made, all notifications were made, and traffic was diverted.
- At 4:56 p.m., a team started slowly backing the truck out of the tunnel.
- At 5:15 p.m., the truck was out of the tunnel.
- At 5:35 p.m., the tunnel reopened.
ERC says its team tried a handful of methods to get the truck out of the tunnel. Air was released from the tires, and commercial yard cans were brought in to release the hydraulic fuel from the lift arm lines in hopes it would release the pressure enough to lower the arms to clear the ceiling. However, that didn't work.
What did the trick was when a service team went on top of the truck and loosened the bolts of the arms enough to lower them, ERC says, noting that this took time due to the pressure of the arms against the ceiling.
The driver of the trash truck has since been charged, according to state police, with reckless driving, over height limits, driving in the left lane where prohibited and two counts of disregarding a flagger.
State police said about 229 feet of the ceiling tiles were impacted. The overall damage from the incident is still under review. ERC says work on replacing the ceiling tiles will be done at night and on weekends to minimize traffic impacts.
