Vehicles Damaged By Huge Hole In I-44 Bridge In Catoosa

By Emory Bryan, The News On 6

CATOOSA, OK -- There has been a big problem for drivers on I-44 Friday evening.

A huge pothole on a bridge has been causing trouble for drivers and created a mess earlier Friday.

The huge hole is in the I-44 bridge over 163rd East Avenue. The hole reduced westbound traffic to one lane, damaged numerous cars and caused a large traffic back-up.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation says the hole is at least three feet wide by six feet long.

At least 17 cars went over the big hole before traffic started backing up at the 161st Street exit on I-44, westbound.

The hole in the bridge was in the right hand lane, westbound, in the middle of rush hour. It has been repaired now, but the lane is still blocked off while the concrete dries. 

The problem has been a long time coming, but it happened fast.

Video shot by SKYNEWS 6 shows that the pavement fell out of the hole, leaving nothing but rebar, or steel reinforcing bar, inside.

From below on 163rd East Avenue, drivers could see the sky through the hole. Up top, 17 drivers went over the gap before traffic came to a stop.

"I came up on it and thought I could swerve, but I couldn't with the cars in the left lane and the only option is a bridge so there wasn't a lot of dodging you could do," said Tina Matthews.

A long line of disabled cars formed just west of the bridge. All of them had flat tires. To the east, traffic backed up for miles as tow trucks lined up to haul off the cars. 

The pothole and all day repair work limited traffic to one lane in an area that's almost always congested.

"Just a big hole, that's all I saw and it was real jagged around the edges," said Linda Dockrey.

Some drivers had multiple flats, and some had other damage to their cars.

"I just hit a large edge of a sharp pothole and my car kinda dropped and then it came back up again and my tire went through thump, thump, thump and I just tried to slow down as much as I could," said Linda Dockrey.

The bridge started crumbling years ago, but without the money to replace it, ODOT hung nets underneath it to catch pieces that fall off.

According to NewsOn6.com's Bridge Tracker database, the bridge was built in 1958. ODOT considers the bridge to be structurally deficient. It is inspected every two years, with the next inspection due in May of this year.

ODOT recently signed a $7 million contract to replace the bridge, but the work will take almost a year.