
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 19, 1994                   TAG: 9405190171
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

RIG WRECKS, SPILLS ASPHALT INTO CREEK

A bridge collapsed beneath a rig traveling south on Virginia 608 in Rockbridge County, causing the vehicle to overturn and spill concrete asphalt into a creek Wednesday morning, State Police said. No one was injured.

The driver, George D. Washington of Richmond, attempted to take a curve on a low-water bridge over Gilmore's Creek, near Natural Bridge, at about 9 a.m. He was hauling concrete asphalt for Fuel Oil & Equipment Inc. of Roanoke.

He was lost and was looking for Virginia 608 North, Trooper Mike Hamilton said.

He crossed the bridge once with his truck, which weighed more than the 11-ton limit. But the second time, the rig's wheels rolled into a ditch and the truck got stuck on the bridge barrier.

Washington got out of the truck. The bridge collapsed soon after, and the truck toppled into the creek. About 2,000 gallons of the asphalt material spilled 75 yards into the creek and solidified, Hamilton said.

Cleanup of the creek, a tributary of the James River, will close that area of Virginia 608 South until about 3 p.m. today, Hamilton said. Police cited Washington with failure to obey a highway sign and with hauling an overweight rig.

by CNB