Incident on Hwy 51 South going towards Memphis

lladnek82 · Aug 9, 2011

This happened yesterday. I drove by it a few times and fortunately the driver was unharmed.

18-wheeler accident causes temporary shutdown of Highway 51 South, lanes are now reopened

Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Dyersburg State Gazette

The remnants of the 18-wheeler block both southbound lanes of Highway 51. The driver was reportedly uninjured and the cause of the accident is still under investigation by the Tennessee highway Patrol.
[Click to enlarge]

The Tennessee Highway Patrol is investigating an accident involving an 18-wheeler that caused the shutdown of the southbound lanes of Highway 51 on Monday.

Dyer County Fire Chief James Medling said he was called to the accident around 2:30 a.m. on Monday in reference to an 18-wheeler accident that caused both the tractor and tanker to catch fire. The wreck occurred at the Dyer County / Lauderdale County line in the southbound lanes of Highway 51. Southbound traffic had to be rerouted from Four Points to Highway 412 for most of Monday, but the lanes were later reopened.

Liquid asphalt can be seen leaking from the tanker. The EPA and TDOT have ben monitoring the accident and an environmental cleanup crew has been requested to perform the cleanup.
[Click to enlarge]

After fire crews arrived on the scene and extinguished the fire, the tanker's cargo, which was liquid asphalt, was discovered to be leaking out. Medling said the spill did not pose an immediate danger to the public and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) were on the scene checking on the situation. THP Trooper Doug Robertson said the driver was not injured in the one-vehicle accident.
"It's amazing he came away without a scratch," said Robertson.

The semi-truck is said to be out of Channel View, Texas and was headed to Halls, Tenn. from Illinois at the time of the wreck.

Robertson said the preliminary finding into the cause of the accident is the driver possibly fell asleep. He added the driver said he heard a "pop" before the accident and thought it may have been a steering axle that blew out. However, Robertson said there were no signs on the roadway that indicated breaking or anything else. Robertson advised motorists traveling on the highway that TDOT will have to come in the next day or so and resurface the bridge with asphalt.

"The diesel (from the semi-truck) was eating up the asphalt," said Robertson.

No charges have been filed in the accident and the investigation into the cause is ongoing.
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