The Oklahoma State Patrol said Saturday it closed the highway south of Sallisaw after a barge crashed into a bridge over the Arkansas River.
State Patrol spokeswoman Sarah Stewart said troopers shut down South Route 59 and diverted traffic from the area around 1:25 p.m. after receiving word of the incident.
The bridge, which crosses the Arkansas River into the Robert S. Carr Reservoir, will remain closed until an inspection is conducted, she said.
There were no reports of injuries on the highway or on the barge, Stewart said.
It was not immediately clear what caused the barge to collide with the bridge.
The news comes after engineers said Saturday that the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland collapsed after a huge cargo ship hit one of the bridge’s main supports, causing it to collapse and fall into the Patapsco River. The accident occurred when work was being carried out to lift some of the steel materials.
