Grease covers highway after accident under I-55 bridge

Waste oil grease covered a roadway after a truck accidentally struck the underside of a bridge on Highway 74 at Interstate 55, prompting a cleanup effort Saturday afternoon.

Cape Girardeau Fire Department battalion chief Mark Starnes said the driver of the Dutch Enterprises truck was traveling east on Highway 74 after having unloaded most of a tankful of the grease nearby.

"[The driver] still had about 10 to 15 gallons of that waste oil grease product still left in his tank," Starnes said. "He didn't have [the truck's tankard] all the way down, and he hit that bottom girder."

The truck's tank, which operated on a hinge similar to that of a dump truck, was knocked off.

The bottom of the bridge -- listed as 14 feet, 5 inches in height -- clearly was dented by the accident. Emergency personnel were unable to determine whether the damage was of any significance. Missouri Department of Transportation inspectors were on the way Saturday afternoon to evaluate the bridge, as well as to lay down sand to help clean up the spill.

Starnes said while the grease made the roadway slick, it did not constitute any type of biological hazard.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627

Pertinent address:

Interstate 55 and Highway 74, Cape Girardeau, Mo.