80,000 pounds of road-fill gravel closes southbound I-15 in Salt Lake City
Sep 29, 2021, 4:22 PM | Updated: 5:06 pm
Image of the debris spill on southbound I-15 near 3300 South in Salt Lake City. Image credit: KSL 5 screengrab
SALT LAKE CITY — If you saw any of the photos of the road spill from Chopper 5 on Wednesday over southbound I-15 and 3300 South you know how big that spill was.
But now we know just how much gravel fell onto the freeway this morning. Utah Department of Transportation Spokesman John Gleason said 40 tons or 80,000 pounds of sand-like or fine gravel fell on the road.
“A large truck, dump-truck that was just driving on the freeway, and apparently there was a gate malfunction of some sort,” said Gleason.
The truck lost its entire load on the freeway.
“It’s a fine, clay-type dust, I guess, so they have to be very meticulous to clean it up,” Gleason told KSL NewsRadio. “And they’re working from the left lanes, from the left to the right.”
This right here! 👇 The @UDOTTRAFFIC team did an amazing job getting his gravel spill cleaned up off SB 15 today before the afternoon drive home kicked in. #applause #goodwork #thankyou pic.twitter.com/B8Lz2YOezv
— Rikki Meece (@KSLRikki) September 29, 2021
Gleason said it took six sweepers, five plows, several dump trucks, and a loader to clean up all the road spill. Luckily the weather cooperated, as rain would turn the fine gravel to mud and make things much harder to clean.
Keep reading:
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UDOT to open two new interchanges on U.S. Highway 89
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UDOT to monitor bridges infrastructure report found in poor condition
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For second time in hours, truck becomes high-centered on freeway barrier
Simone Seikaly contributed
