I-40 Bridge collapse memorial on Monday
Friday, May 23rd 2003, 12:00 am
By:
News On 6
(Broken Bow, Oklahoma-AP) -- A memorial to the 14 victims of the Webbers Falls bridge collapse will be dedicated in a riverfront park on Monday.
It will be the first anniversary of the bridge collapse over the Arkansas River.
Fourteen people were killed and several others injured after a barge being pushed by a tugboat struck on the bridge's support beams.
Towboat pilot William Joe Dedmon says he blacked out before hitting the bridge. Dedmon's lawyers and a cardiologist say Dedmon blacked out because of a heart condition.
Investigators also noted that Dedmon had slept less than 10 hours in two days before the accident.
A federal investigation into the collapse remains unfinished.
Survivors and victims' family members recently settled lawsuits with the tugboat's owner, Mississippi-based Magnolia Marine Transport Company.
