THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 24, 1994 TAG: 9409240253
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
After divers took a first look Friday, highway officials said the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel might have escaped severe damage from runaway barges that smashed into the span Thursday during a northeaster.
That optimism was tempered with caution as the officials decided to keep one northbound lane of Interstate 664 on the bridge-tunnel closed to traffic until next week.
``The structural integrity of the bridge is still good,'' said Bob Spieldenner, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Transportation. ``We are a lot better off than we thought we might end up with.''
Northbound traffic on the Monitor-Merrimac will be restricted to one lane until further inspections are done, said Bill Cannell, public relations coordinator for the Transportation Department.
``They decided they didn't want to put heavy traffic on the bridge and take the chance of more damage,'' Cannell said.
The divers began assessing underwater damage to as many as 175 load-bearing pilings pounded by the 120-foot barges loaded with gravel and sand.
The barges were being pushed down the James River from Richmond to Norfolk when they got loose about 7:45 a.m. during a storm packing 60-mph winds.
A bridge-tunnel employee said the tug went after the first barge that broke free. The other eight then separated from one another and drifted toward the span.
Seven of the barges lodged against the bridge along the northbound lanes, on the south side of the tunnel. Another floated south to the small-boat channel, where it sank just west of the southbound lanes after banging under the bridge.
Officials believe the ninth barge also struck the bridge-tunnel before the storm blew it back through the ship channel and up the James River.
The tugboat and barges were being operated by Tarmac America Inc., a Norfolk-based construction materials firm.
Except for the barge that sank near the small-boat channel, all of the barges have been towed to a Tarmac facility on the Elizabeth River in Norfolk, said Lt. Patti Brossman, a Coast Guard spokeswoman.
Both northbound lanes of the bridge-tunnel were closed for 11 hours Thursday. Highway officials reopened one lane at 7 p.m. Thursday. The right, northbound lane remains closed from the southern end of the bridge-tunnel in Suffolk to about 1,000 feet south of the tunnel.
Three bridge pilings have large holes and a 30-foot section of the barrier wall was broken in several places when one of the barges flipped over as it was buffeted by the storm's 6-foot waves and fierce winds, Spieldenner said. Other damage is less severe.
``There are a lot of little nicks, here and there,'' Spieldenner said.
Bob Crofton, president of Crofton Diving Corp. of Portsmouth, said four divers and several surface inspectors are looking at the bridge-tunnel to assess the damage. Crofton said divers must inspect 150 to 175 pilings. He said it will take ``some time before we know the full extent of the damage.''
Crofton said the sunken barge in the small-boat channel will probably be refloated today. Until the wreckage is cleared, the channel will be closed to boats, the Coast Guard said.
Meanwhile, Coast Guard investigators are interviewing witnesses to the accident in an effort to determine how the barges got loose from the tugboat as they were being moved through the bridge-tunnel ship channel.
Chief Petty Officer Jim Fink, one of three Coast Guard investigators looking into the accident, said all four members of the tugboat crew will be interviewed, as well as Department of Transportation workers who may have seen the barges break apart.
The accident, Fink said, probably would not have occurred without the northeaster.
``Right off, we can absolutely say that weather was a very strong factor,'' Fink said. ``Whether it was the only one, we can't say.''
Fink would not predict how long the investigation will take.
Also Friday, the Jamestown-Scotland ferry reopened at noon, Cannell said. The ferry service was closed Thursday when a storm-tossed barge damaged a pier. ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photos by Paul Aiken
The impact of one of the runaway barges Thursday chewed away the
edge of this bridge support on
the bridge-tunnel.
Inspectors check for damage to the Monitor-Merrimac bridge-tunnel
along the small-boat channel. One of the barges was blown to the
channel, where it worked its way under the bridge before sinking.
The pilings at left are tilted by design.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT MONITOR MERRIMAC BRIDGE TUNNEL BARGE by CNB