Trucker, worker die in work zone crash on U.S. 67 Arkansas bridge

At the time of the crash, three workers stood near the south end of the bridge, while the victim either stood by or was inside a state highway department truck. The driver of the semitruck either ignored or didn’t see the warning signs, slamming through the flashing arrow sign and into the back of the department’s truck.

By JON GAMBRELL
The Associated Press

6/24/2008

LITTLE ROCK — A semitruck driver crashed through a state highway department work zone Tuesday morning on a U.S. 67 bridge over the White River, killing himself and a worker there as flames engulfed his rig, officials said.

A northbound lane and both of the southbound lanes of the bridge, located near Ingleside, remained closed late this afternoonas state workers mourned their dead colleague and began the task of inspecting the fire damage. Randy Ort, a spokesman for the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department, said the lanes would remain closed until undergoing a thorough check. At 8 p.m. today, the Arkansas State Police said the northbound lanes of the bridge had reopened, but could not say for certain when the southbound lane would reopen. Southbound traffic is being re-routed onto Arkansas Highway 367 at Newport.

“We will make sure the bridge structure itself is safe and did not suffer damage in the fire before we reopen it,” Ort said.

Ort identified the dead highway worker as Bruce Fick, 47, of Newark. Ort said Fick had worked for the highway department for 11 years and that his wife also works for the department.

The crash happened around 10:30 a.m., as a group of four state highway workers prepared to do maintenance and pressure-wash the bridge’s deck along the southbound lanes, Ort said. The workers had set up a series of tapered orange barrels or cones to mark the lane closure, as well as placed a large, flashing arrow sign mounted on a trailer to warning oncoming traffic, Ort said.

At the time of the crash, three workers stood near the south end of the bridge, while Fick either stood by or was inside a state highway department truck. Ort said the driver of the semitruck either ignored or didn’t see the warning signs, slamming through the flashing arrow sign and into the back of the department’s truck.

Both trucks burst into flames after the collision. Ort said the Fick and the semitruck driver died at the scene of the crash.

Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said troopers continued to investigate the crash and were not yet ready to identify the semitruck driver.

U.S. 67 runs from the Mexican border in Texas through eastern Iowa. The portion where the crash occurred has two southbound and two northbound lanes, separated by a median.

Ort said the department’s last death came in January 2007, when a worker removing a deer carcass from U.S. 67 near Jacksonville was struck on the highway’s shoulder by a passing car.